Seven Days of Torture
by Snowsheba
Summary: Lyra makes a bet with Silver: if he wins, she'll leave him alone. If she wins, she gets to follow him around for a week. The chance of being by himself again was just too good to pass up, but now Silver regrets it... or does he? These seven days are bringing him more adventure than he's ever had in his entire life... [T for swearing, Soulsilvershipping, Silver/Lyra]
1. Day 1: The Reason Why

**Hello, readers. I have mild writer's block right now, so here I am doing something com-PLETE-ly random. Normally I don't write stuff like this, either. I'm just experimenting at this point.**

**Universe: HGSS**

**Notes: I tried to make Silver's personality a little friendly, one that had softened up—as in, at the end of the game, he thought differently than before and such. Maybe I succeeded, maybe I didn't. Ah well.**

**I own nothing except the plot.**

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><p>"<em>Come on, Silver! Just this once?"<em>

_Silver glared back at the girl as she jumped up and down on the stone in front of the bench where he sat. Her pigtails, to his faint amusement, bobbed along with the motion. _

_He shook his head. "No."_

_She looked crestfallen, staring at him with puppy-dog eyes. Silver had to work hard to resist. He had always been a little partial to his rival. She was the only one who was truly better than him, after all._

_Though when he'd first met her, he hadn't been too impressed. She had looked ridiculous—she had a marshmallow hat on her head, for Arceus' sake. And she still did look ridiculous. Not to mention she was weak. But she had quickly proved that, despite her clownish appearance, she was a force to be reckoned with. Each time he'd risen up to challenge her, she'd beaten him back down again._

_There were only so many blows pride can take, and Silver's ego was feeling a little shaky. He'd tried the Elite Four again and had been beaten by Koga. It was really pissing him off, since he'd beat him last time, so at the moment Silver was not in the mood to get creamed again._

_Which was the reason why he was pointedly refusing Lyra's request for a battle. He was becoming convinced at this point that Lyra was using him to train her Pokemon to higher levels. Well, excuse him for saying so, but you _can_ train Pokemon by fighting the Elite Four. But obviously Lyra preferred to battle him, because she always won._

"_Please?" she pleaded, clasping her hands together. She looked ready to get on her knees and actually beg him. Which, Silver reflected, wouldn't be completely strange. It was Lyra, after all._

_He remained steadfast. "No."_

"_Pretty please? With sprinkles and whipped cream and a cherry on top?"_

Oh, Arceus_. More with the imaginary food. Silver had never seen the point in that. "Please" wasn't exactly the word he'd put food on, seeing as it was one he rarely used. Besides which, it was a freaking _word_. You don't put food on freaking _words_. "For the last time: NO."_

_She pouted, shoving her pale, delicate hands in her overalls' pockets. She tapped her foot and seemed to find something interesting on the ground. Or, at least, her eyes flitted from his face to the stone below. The National Park was a very beautiful place, Silver had to admit (grudgingly, yes, but he did admit it), so why was she looking at the ground? The least she could've done was look at a tree._

_Then her face lit up, and Silver suppressed a groan. She had gotten an idea, and knowing Lyra, it was bound to involve him doing something he didn't like. He didn't like a lot of things, and most them had something to do with her. Unfortunately for him, she knew most of the list. Which wasn't exactly an incident Silver was most proud of. _

_It had been one thing to almost have a heart attack when she jumped him in an alley in Goldenrod on her Meganium, yelling his name at the top of her lungs. It was another to let it slip that he was adding the incident to the list of things he didn't like. Lyra, being Lyra, instantly demanded that he tell her his rather lengthy list. He didn't, of course, and since she wasn't completely an idiot, she figured out most of the contents on her own. And now she used it to her advantage._

_Silver watched through his curtain of scarlet hair as she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. She hadn't managed to get his phone number yet, thank Arceus. But that was only because he watched his phone like a hawk. It never left his pocket. Though in retrospect, he didn't even know why he had a phone. He never used it, except when a Gym Leader wanted to challenge him or something, which had only happened five times exactly. _

"_Hello?" His silver eyes narrowed when a smile brightened her face. Yes, something he didn't like was going to happen. He was sure now. "Ethan! It's great that I could contact you. Listen, I have a favor to ask."_

Damn_. She was getting Ethan involved? Time to make himself scarce. Silver slowly eased up from the bench and tiptoed away from the girl as she chattered on to her childhood friend. He made it out of her sight in just a few minutes, and he was sighing in relief when someone grabbed the collar of his jacket from the back. He automatically aimed a kick behind him, but the person nimbly dodged. That meant it could only be one of two people, seeing as no one else dared grab him at all, and Silver was willing to guess which was it was._

"_Where are you going? She's over there, stupid." _

_Silver groaned. That was Ethan, for sure. Silver allowed himself to be dragged back, a sullen expression on his face. He heard Lyra exclaim, "Thanks, Ethan! I was so busy talking to you that I forgot to keep an eye on him."_

"_No problem." Ethan dropped Silver back on the bench, and Silver leaned back with a long, resigned sigh. "See, he's given up. Okay, so why'd you need me?"_

"_Oh, that's right! I was just rambling about nothing on the phone again, wasn't I? Well, now Silver can hear it too." Silver buried his face in his hands with a muttered curse as Lyra's peppy voice continued, "He won't battle me, so I need you to give him a reason to."_

"_We could've done that over the phone," Ethan said plaintively. Silver felt an inkling of exasperation. At least _someone_ could see sense._

_Lyra just shrugged. "I prefer to talk in person. Besides, you were so close by."_

"_True enough," Ethan admitted. He had had to be pretty close, if he'd caught Silver so quickly. After all, Ethan—as far as Silver knew—didn't have a flying Pokemon. All he had was that stupid Marill. Silver absently wondered where it was; it followed the boy everywhere he went._

"_So," Lyra said, bringing Silver's thoughts back to the conversation. She crossed her arms and asked, "Do you have a solution to my dilemma?"_

"_It's not even his problem, and you're asking him for help?" Silver snapped at the brunette. He was now seriously pissed. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?"_

"_Shut up! I'm not an idiot!"_

"_Oh, really? What about that time in Violet City last week? You fell into the water, as I recall."_

"_It was for a good cause! I was helping a little girl get her toy back!"_

"_No, I think it's just because you dropped your food."_

"_Sh-shut up!" Lyra whirled on Ethan. "You! Do you have any ideas yet?"_

_Ethan had his face scrunched up, trying not to burst out laughing. In the end, he managed to get out, "Make a bet with him or something."_

_Immediately Lyra forgot the argument. She stood up straight, eyes shining as she clapped her hands together. "Yes! That's it! Silver would never refuse a bet if there's something in it for him. Isn't that so?"_

"_Shut up, idiot." Unfortunately, she was right. She usually was, despite her ditzy behavior._

"_Well, if that's all, excuse me while I have a laugh attack." Lyra and Silver both glared after Ethan as he ran off, bellowing with laughter. Passerby gave him odd looks, but it was obvious that he didn't care in the least._

"_Why's he laughing?" Lyra asked moments later, frowning, still staring after the boy. Silver facepalmed, but she shot him a questioning look. She was serious. She wanted an answer, and she wasn't going to budge until Silver gave her one. So with an exasperated glare, he began to think of answers. They had to be answers in which she would shut up. A lot of times, if given an answer that she didn't like, she'd argue. And Silver was not in the mood to argue with the her._

_He blinked, his mind narrowing down the possible choices. The most obvious: _He's just like that_. The other one was that came up was: _because we bicker like an old couple_. Silver dismissed the thought immediately, embarrassed. There was no way in hell that Silver would ever say something like that. It would be completely out of character, and plus it wasn't true. At all. _

"_He's Ethan," Silver said simply a few moments later. It was a decent answer._

"_I guess..." Lyra watched the retreating figure for a few more seconds, then expertly spun on her heel, facing him. "So! Silver, I have a bet to propose!"_

_Silver raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. "I couldn't have guessed."_

"_Shut up," Lyra said cheerfully, without missing a beat. "Anyway, here's the thing: we have a battle."_

"_I gathered."_

"_Shut up. If you win, I'll leave you alone until you get bored."_

_Silver couldn't argue with that; it was a good bargain. Then he realized the second part of her sentence. "Wait… Who says I'd get bored?"_

_Lyra shot him a pitying glance. "Oh, Silver. Admit it. Your life would be so monotonous without me."_

_Silver grunted, but didn't deny it. Lyra didn't press._

"_Okay, so if I win, you leave me alone." Peace and quiet. When was the last time he'd gotten that? "And if you win?"_

"_I was kind of hoping you wouldn't ask." Is it all that bad?_

"… _What is it?"_

_Lyra hesitated, but then told him, "If I win, I get to follow you around for a week."_

_Silver wasn't fazed. "You already do that, idiot."_

"_Shut up. And by follow, I mean, like, go where you go. Like right behind you."_

"_Stalker!" Silver said, recoiling. People looked over at the word, but hastily cast their glances elsewhere when he glared at them._

"_Shut up! You haven't even accepted the bet!" She met his eyes, brown versus silver. "Well?"_

_Silver weighed his options. He was fairly certain he'd lose. Which would be very, very annoying. But it wasn't anything he couldn't stand, since she already did it enough. Besides, once she stopped stalking him, it would seem like she was really quiet. Silver really wanted quiet. Which brought up another thing. If he did, by some miracle, win, then he'd get peace until… well, until he got bored. And he wouldn't. Not for a long time._

_He blinked. _Did I just admit to myself that I would get bored without her?

...Crap_. He was getting soft._

_But if he didn't accept, the offers would become more and more strange. Wildly so. And he'd have to battle her eventually. _So the pros outweigh the cons_, Silver reflected. _Probably.

_It was too late to back out now, though. And if he did win, it would all be worth it._

"… _Fine."_

… And _that_ was why, a few hours later, Silver found Lyra close behind as they walked eastward on Route 36. Arceus, the girl never shut up. Silver almost wanted to find and then throw himself off a cliff as she started to – once again – talk about the sky. He had had enough of the stupid blue sky with the fluffy clouds that looked like Psyducks. Hell, he had had enough of the stupid idiot girl with the marshmallow hat. Maybe he should throw _her_ off the cliff instead.

"I can't believe I agreed," Silver moaned softly as Lyra pointed out a cloud that looked _exactly_ like an Oddish, I mean just _look_, you can see the leaves and the eyes and everything! "I knew I was going to lose, and _yet_… I agreed…"

"You talk to yourself?" Silver's neck snapped to her, silver eyes narrowed, daring her to continue. "Well, I'm just asking," Lyra said, shrugging elegantly.

_Elegantly_. Silver shook his head at himself. He wasn't one to come up with adjectives like that.

"Do you?" Lyra asked again, jerking Silver out of his thoughts.

"Do you _think_ I do?" Silver spat, turning his back. He shoved his hands in his pockets, slouching down, and began to walk in no particular direction. He didn't care if he got lost. Hell, if he got lost, it would be a blessing. Then he could separate himself from this idiot marshmallow-hat girl. Anything was better than listening to her bubbly prattling.

But then she persisted. "You were, for a few moments there."

"How many days did you say?" Silver asked her for the umpteenth time, deliberately changing the subject. He knew it wasn't going to be the last time he asked, either.

"A week."

Seven. Whole. Days! How was he going to survive seven whole _days _with this idiot?

_Well, almost six now_, he thought, noticing it was dusk. _Still. Six whole days! With a marshmallow-hat idiot!_

Though now that he thought about it, she was a very attractive idiot, the way the setting sun lit up her face, positively _shining_ off her pale skin. And the way her eyes brown sparkled was very beautiful, really. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all –

_Oh, Arceus, no_. He was _not_ going to think of his rival like that. It was very un-Silver-like. And what's more, he was positive she wouldn't feel the same way about him._ Damn_. See? There goes his wild thoughts again. Silver didn't feel anything for the girl. Yes. Nothing at all. He just didn't like her.

"Are you okay? 'Cause if I didn't know you better, I'd say you're blushing."

Silver huffed and turned away, feeling his cheeks get hotter. Shit. Shit. Shit! "Says the idiot," he retorted, shifting her attention to the insult.

"I am _not_ an idiot!"

He didn't respond, and she spent a good long while telling him why and exactly how she was not an idiot at all. Silver kept walking, and she kept following. She didn't even notice as they entered the PokeCenter in Violet City; in fact, the Nurse there gave them an amused look as he got two keys for the rooms, and _still_ she lectured him. She was still ranting when Silver handed a key to her and nudged her to her door. Then it hit her as she was turning the lock. She turned to him, who was in the neighboring room. "I'm not done!" she shouted, resulting in several yells of "Shut up!" from other rooms.

Silver slammed his door in her face. It was strangely satisfying.

Despite knowing he was going to wake up to another horrendous day, he slept soundly, with his Pokemon all curled up around him, either on the bed or on the floor. Even his Magneton joined in on the fun, lying itself flat on the ground. Silver wasn't entirely certain if it could sleep at all, but it didn't disrupt him during the night, so at least he knew it could lie still for hours on end.

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><p><strong>Done. If you would, please review! Thanks much!<strong>


	2. Day 2: Spelunking

**Here we are. My apologies for Day 1; it's awfully short. Here's to hoping Day 2 doesn't disappoint!**

**Notes: I'm not to good with romantic hints and stuff. But since Silver is a stranger to emotions, I'm making the hints of romance very, very obvious in this. Because he doesn't know how to make them subtle, if you know what I mean.**

Mewtwomaster58**:** **I always think of Silver as evil, but then he gets all better by the end of the game. Personally I'm surprised you've never considered SoulSilverShipping… *scratches head* Have you ever played Gold/Silver/Crystal or the remakes? You should, they are quite awesome. Thanks for reviewing!**

Metal Star Tiger**: It's nice to know someone out there is cheering so, uh, voraciously for me. Thank you!**

pokefan113**: You really think so? Thank you so much! Ha ha… I'm not too good with the horror genre. Except I'm constantly told that when I write gruesome situations, they are… **_**very**_** gruesome. But I digress. I'm glad you think so!**

Ninja of Night**: Why, thank you! I'm glad you think so!**

**I own nothing except the plot.**

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><p>The next morning Silver was out early - seven o'clock, to be exact - training his Pokemon, per usual. He only had two out for the moment, his Alakazam and his Gengar. The rest were still sleeping in his room (which, again, brings up the question of whether a Magneton can sleep or not…). Lyra walked onto the scene about two hours after he'd started. "Day two, then!" she said cheerfully, though unnecessarily; Silver was keeping track by the minute. He ignored her completely, observing his two as they sparred. Even though it was right in front of her, it took her a moment for her to notice what he was doing. "You're not pushing them too hard?" she asked him, a concerned look on her face.<p>

"No," he said, shooting her a wry look. Of course he wasn't. He'd learned from her how to be a good trainer. It showed in his Pokemon, too; before, they had obeyed him out of fear. Now, they did it out of respect. And, all right, maybe love. That emotion was, of course, foreign to Silver, but he knew that he would protect his Pokemon at all costs, even if he got hurt in the process.

But if it were his life on the line? Silver still wasn't sure. Even if it were Lyra, he wouldn't, probably.

… _Wait…_

Wait a minute. Did he – just – he didn't just admit that he _loved_ her, did he? Even though it was only in his head. He dismissed the thought immediately; no, of course he didn't love her. He just… respected her. Yes. That was it. He definitely just respected her. It was natural, right? She was his rival. He respected his rivals, even though he only had one. He respected her values. And her nature.

Actually, he did _not_ respect her nature. Her nature drove him insane.

But he respected her. He was fairly certain of that, since he didn't get immediately pissed off when she started talking to him (key word: immediately). They had done a lot of things for each other in the past. Mostly, trained each other, but also other things. Silver knew she'd risk a lot for him. He'd risk a lot for her as well. He again considered absently if he would risk his life for her. And then –

_Damn it_. He hated thinking like that. Because he _didn't_ love her. Yes. He did NOT love her. Not at all. He just… respected her. And had a healthy admiration for her. But he did not _love_ her. He didn't even _like_ her. Of course not.

"Earth to Silver! Hello?"

He blinked, realizing he had gone still in thought. Now his Alakazam and his Gengar were giving him funny looks. They'd rarely ever seen their master uncertain, and now was one of those rare times. Silver admitted to himself it was out of character, which was why Lyra and the Pokemon were surprised. To distract both parties, he rubbed his temples and just muttered, "Your voice is not a thing I like to wake up to."

"Wh-what? Wait! Did I just hear that right?" Silver didn't respond, and that was all the answer Lyra needed. She stomped off in a huff, throwing over her shoulder "I'm getting breakfast!"

_And thank Arceus for that!_ Silver regained his focus as she left, snapping at his wide-eyed Pokemon, "Stop gawking!" They hastily obeyed.

A while later, tired and ready for a shower before beginning the day, Silver returned inside, handed his two Pokemon to the nurse, and went up to his room. He opened his door and stopped short. Then he groaned. Really, at this point, he wasn't surprised.

Lyra looked up guiltily. "Sowwy," she said in a baby voice, pouting. "But they were so cute!"

She was cuddling up with the rest of his Pokemon, even Magneton. He observed the scene for a moment: _surprisingly, it's kind of cute_.

Oh, come on. Cute? _Cute?_ Silver was getting concerned about his mind now. Having Lyra in such close, constant proximity must be affecting his vocabulary choice.

To cover up his embarrassment he grabbed his stuff and went into the bathroom, locking the door firmly behind him. When he came back out after a shower, she was still there, except now she was playing some sort of game with his Sneasel.

"We're leaving, idiot," Silver told her sullenly, packing the rest of his stuff into his small bag and swinging it over his shoulder. He returned all the Pokemon to their Pokeballs, giving Sneasel an extra glare because it'd played with the marshmallow-hat idiot. "Let's go."

Lyra hastily scrambled to her feet, flew to her room, and was standing in front of her door just as Silver locked up his. "Ready!" she shouted, earning more yelled complaints from people who were still trying to sleep.

Silver shook his head and continued past her, muttering, "I don't know her, I don't know her…"

Again, the Nurse gave Silver an amused glance as he returned the keys and took back Gengar and Sneasel. To be fair, it was definitely an odd sight. Silver wore dark clothing, in stark contrast with his crimson hair, and said nothing except what he had to. The idiot girl had bright colors on, a marshmallow hat perched on her head, twin pigtails, and was blabbering on about nothing in particular at the moment.

"So! Where are we going today?" Lyra asked brightly as soon as they were out, thankfully forgetting her original subject of stairs.

Silver suddenly had a thought, and he patted his pocket, pretending to ignore Lyra completely. He exhaled slowly in relief: his phone was present, thank Arceus. And that meant Lyra hadn't gotten his number. He'd have to be more careful in the next few days.

Lyra asked the question again. "Where are we going?"

Silver took his time responding. Just when she was about to repeat the question again, a little more than annoyed, he answered truthfully, "Nowhere in particular." He was a wanderer by nature, after losing miserably to the Elite Champion multiple times. The one that was standing right next to him, that is. He'd beaten Lance before, by a sliver.

"Let's go this way, then!" And Lyra strode off. Silver watched her go, slightly baffled. It took him a long while to realize _this was his chance_. He could escape her, and her ever-loud mouth, and be by himself again. Peace and quiet. He could. It would be so easy. All he had to do was turn and walk in the opposite direction. If he did it quick, she wouldn't notice until later. In fact, she wouldn't notice until she looked back and saw he was gone. That's how ditzy she was.

But for a reason he didn't know, his feet carried him after her. His behavior surprised himself inside, but he refused to let it show once Lyra stopped so he could catch up.

"You're so slow! Hurry up!"

He grunted in response. Once her back was turned, he muttered curses under his breath. He had had the golden opportunity. Why did he pass it up?

_Well, no point in looking into it,_ he thought. He could do that later, when the idiot wasn't disrupting his thoughts every other minute with words.

He trudged along after her for the longest time before it occurred to him that she was leading and he was not. Which also meant he had no idea where he was going. Looking around, though, he figured he was on Route 32. It seemed Lyra was keen on avoiding all the trainers nearby, so she was tromping through the tall grass. Silver followed wordlessly, wondering why no wild Pokemon lashed out to attack her. They never attacked him, either, but still. He had to wonder. There was nothing else to do, unless one really wanted to listen to a girl talk about nothing.

It was a little before noon as they came upon the PokeCenter situated near the end of the Route. The journey had taken almost two hours, and for Silver, that was _slow_. He could barrel though any route in under forty-five minutes if he were on his own. But Lyra walked slowly, it seemed, and since she was leading, he didn't argue.

_Why don't I just lead?_ Silver asked himself. It would make things a whole lot easier, and faster. But for some reason he was against it. Following Lyra had been… not too bad, to say the least. Sure, she prattled endlessly, but Silver knew she did that constantly and had become able to (usually) drone it out. It was also nice to have her fight trainers if they challenged them. He never stepped up to a battle, but Lyra never refused them. Now that he thought about it, that was what probably slowed them down so much.

So basically, he'd spent two hours walking after her, observing her fight, and absently listen to her talk. He remembered that she was kept going back to the lines of _look how pretty it is!_ and such. In fact, he could recall her pointing to his hair and saying, "Wow, that's a really pretty color!" Lyra was definitely a little odd in the head.

"I'm going to rest my Pokemon, Silver! Be right back!" He barely had time to nod before she swept inside. He sighed in relief as the glass doors slid shut. He could finally hear himself breath.

Naturally, while Lyra wasn't there, a trainer walked up to him and declared, "I challenge you!" Silver examined the stranger with narrowed eyes. He wasn't in the mood right now, and he didn't respond. The trainer, a bird keeper from the looks of it, frowned.

"I challenge you!" he said again, this time with uncertainty laced in his voice. Silver didn't reply, and just continued to stare him down. Eventually, the trainer, thoroughly freaked out, muttered an apology and hurried away. Silver allowed himself a small smile. He had succeeded in avoiding a battle, again. Lyra chose this time to exit the building, skipping and humming happily.

"Let's go!" she cried, grabbing his forcefully by the arm and dragging him down the Route.

"What the – let go of me!" Silver snarled, but she didn't loosen her grip. It didn't help that she didn't let him stand, so he couldn't walk. He had to be dragged, and he winced as his shoes left tracks in the hard dirt. He wasn't going to get those scuff marks out for days.

He was just getting used to the sensation when she abruptly dropped him. He managed to catch himself with his hands and was on his feet when she turned around, dusting off his pants. "I _can_ walk," he told her dryly.

"You walk _slow_," she replied stubbornly. "Anyway, look!" He stared past her and saw the opening of a cave. Union Cave, to be exact. "We're going to go spelunking!"

_Arceus, not again_. Last time Lyra had dragged him to go exploring had ended in disaster. For one, she had gotten them lost. And then, he learned she wasn't exactly as fearless as he'd imagined; she hated being alone in the dark. Which resulted in her tittering nervously, _right_ behind him, as he easily led them out. She talked and talked and talked, because she was nervous, and it had almost driven Silver off the edge of insanity.

So he wasn't eager to go _spelunking_, as she put it. Unfortunately, it was the only way to get to Azalea Town. At least, it was the only way since they had taken Route 32. So Silver gave up. He'd have to spend Day 2 with Lyra spelunking, it seemed. _At least it can't get any worse,_ he told himself.

As if on cue, something small and cold hit him square on the nose. He blinked, held out his hand, and felt the unmistakable drops of water. _Apparently, it can_, he grumbled to himself, racing inside the cave to escape the rain. Lyra ran after him, holding her hat so it wouldn't fall off. It was a comical sight, but Silver didn't comment as she stopped next to him, panting. It would be very un-Silver-like, and Silver wanted to keep his reputation untarnished by needless behavior.

"Let's go!" Lyra yelled. Silver winced as her voice echoed off the cave walls, but walked after her as she strode forward. It was pretty straightforward; there was enough light to see by, and the path was easy enough to follow. Lyra, however, wanted to take some detours.

Silver refused, of course.

"Please, Silver," Lyra begged, once again preparing to get on her knees. "I've heard rumors of a Lapras deep in this cave. Please…"

"Do it in your own time," Silver retorted. He began walking towards the exit, and having passed through this cave many times before, he knew exactly where to go. After a bit of yelling after him and general complaining, Lyra grudgingly fell in step behind him.

They were about halfway through, a good few hours and one hell of migraine later, when Lyra complained, "I'm tired."

"Then sit, for all I care," Silver replied, not slowing his pace, which was a brisk walk, and not ceasing to rub his temples. He heard Lyra mutter something under her breath but it was too soft for him to hear in its entirety. All he caught was "stupid" and his name, multiple times. He was willing to guess what other words accompanied her spiel.

Suddenly, with no warning at all, Lyra grabbed his collar from behind and pulled him to the ground. Silver couldn't help it: he squeaked when the fabric closed against his throat. He was cursing in his head before he fell onto the ground. Lyra would never let him live _that_ down.

He found himself sitting next to Lyra, their backs to a boulder. She had just-so-happened to find the perfect resting spot. "What the hell was that for?" Silver growled, rubbing his neck. It had _hurt_, for Arceus' sake!

"I'm tired," Lyra said simply, as if the simple sentence was the answer to everything.

_Self-centered idiot_. Silver held his tongue and instead glared at a pebble sitting in front of him. He could always get up and continue walking, but now that he thought about it, he was a little tired too. And his _head_... Yes, a little rest wouldn't hurt. Lyra wouldn't complain as much, then.

He wondered if her talking was worse than her complaining. After careful deliberation, he decided her complaining was worse than her talking. He did not like idiots who kept telling him how they didn't want to do this, didn't feel good, didn't like that - well, the list is long. Complaining was ranked high on Silver's list of things he didn't like.

Since all these thoughts were swirling in his head, it took him a moment to realize Lyra was trying to get his attention. That was probably because she was trying to do it without speaking. Wordlessly he turned his head to her, and his silver eyes widened. There, perched precariously on her arm, was a Zubat.

Silver had a certain fondness for Zubats—heck, he had once raised a Crobat, after all. But it was rare to have one approach a human, let alone _touch_ the human.

That was probably why Lyra was a better trainer than he. She had a certain gentleness around her that Pokemon could sense, and in turn, they came to her. They never even growled if she got a little too close to the nest. Silver had seen that happen once. The Pidgeot hadn't even flinched when Lyra stroked its feathers, despite the two baby Pidgeys stumbling around and squeaking pathetically at its feet. Silver had kept his distance, knowing the majestic bird wouldn't hesitate to slap him with its wings if he got close enough.

Lyra was running her fingers over the Zubat's body, and Silver couldn't help a small smile. It was always amazing to see the self Lyra reserved for Pokemon. She was calm, quiet, tender, and kind. When around humans, she was loud—though Ethan insisted she was still kind. Silver had trouble wrapping his mind around it, but every time he saw this side of her, he knew Ethan was right. Lyra was just too nice for her own good.

A while passed, maybe an hour, maybe a minute - Silver wasn't sure. Then the Zubat nuzzled Lyra's hand one last time. It unfurled its wings, brushing her face, flapped them experimentally, and then jumped and flew off. Lyra and Silver watched it go off silently. Once it disappeared, Silver got to his feet, wincing; his legs were sore. "Let's go," he said softly, not wanting to disrupt the peace in the moment. Lyra nodded and they went on their way, staying completely quiet.

The rest of the trek, two hours or so, was spent in silence. Silver relished every single second of it. It wasn't until they made it out to Route 33 that Lyra began to speak again. And when she did, it was to point out the obvious. She did that a lot, which was why Silver always wanted her to shut up. "Look, it's raining!"

Silver just gave her a look, retreating back into the cave so he had shelter from the rain. He was going to make a run for it, of course, but Lyra was already outside. She was just standing there, looking up, the rain running down her face in small rivulets. _Whatever_. She'd follow him eventually, he knew. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly - and then he sprinted in the direction of Azalea Town, stopping only once while waiting for the doors to the PokeCenter to open. He dashed inside and found numerous trainers also sopping wet. It seemed that he wasn't the only one to be caught in the storm.

He had gotten two keys for rooms again when Lyra burst in. She was a sight to see: a whole mess of tangled hair, wet clothes, and huge smile plastered on her face and the marshmallow hat clutched in her hand. Her skin was shiny with water, and wordlessly Silver threw her the towel the Nurse thoughtfully provided. She caught it on her head in such a way that she could still see.

"We'll be staying here for the day," Silver told her. It was near six o'clock, so might as well. It was pouring out there now, too. They had just escaped the thunderstorm.

Lyra nodded, the ridiculous grin still stuck on her face, and followed Silver as he went to their rooms. He had been lucky to get them, the Nurse told him. Many trainers had come since the storm struck, and there were few rooms still open.

Upon reaching one of their rooms, he handed the key to Lyra and made off to his own. Again, he slammed the door. And again, it was strangely satisfying. Silver made a mental note to remember that he could slam doors as a stress reliever.

He released all his Pokemon into the room, and they immediately began to wrestle with each other. Or at least two of them did. Magneton was not one for wrestling, since it was made of steel. And one couldn't really wrestle with Gengar, since, more often than not, a limb will go straight through him. And Honchkrow—well, Honchkrow had the problem of having wings instead of arms, so it was particularly difficult for him to wrestle. And Alakazam didn't like doing physical things. So really, it was just Typhlosion and Sneasel going at each other like there was no tomorrow. Silver left them to it. It wasn't his room, after all. He wouldn't have to clean up the potential mess later.

Moments later Lyra burst into his room. "LET'S PLAY A GAME!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, and Silver hurriedly slammed the door behind her as other trainers shouted multiple curses. Had she no class, to yell in a PokeCenter?

"For Arceus' sake, show some sense for once!" Silver snarled, crossing his arms.

She sniffed disdainfully. "I have sense!" When Silver scoffed she admitted grudgingly, "I just choose not to use it."

"Too right," Silver said with feeling.

"Let's play a game!" Lyra exclaimed again, effectively ignoring him. She went over and stroked Honchkrow's dark feathers. The creature didn't mind at all, which to Silver meant _traitor_. "Well, Honchkrow? Is there a game you want to play?"

Honchkrow didn't respond. It was one of Silver's first Pokemon, and the reason he liked it so much was because it reminded him of himself. Honchkrow almost never spoke unless it absolutely had to. Lyra shrugged and removed her hand, letting the bird resume preening itself.

Eventually she got involved with Typhlosion and Sneasel, cheering and refereeing their wrestling match. Silver watched out of the corner of his eye, making sure things didn't go out of hand, while Gengar practiced his Shadow Ball in front of him. Silver always took every opportunity to train, and sitting around in a room was the perfect time to. There were no disruptions when Gengar successfully kept the black ball in his hands, wearing the evil grin. Then, suddenly, Sneasel was thrown to the side and slammed right into Gengar's back.

Silver knew disaster had struck as soon as he noticed the wrestling match get a little more violent. He was actually going to get up and stop it, but it seemed like he didn't need to anymore.

Silver ducked to the side as his Gengar's Shadow Ball rammed into the wall of the room. The wall absorbed most of the impact, but there was a spectacular explosion accompanied with smoke and it did leave a rather deep dent… not to mention the wall looked like it had been trashed…

Silver knew he'd have to pay for it. Well, if he was lucky, he could get most of the money out of Lyra's pocket instead of his own. It was the least she could do, even though it wasn't directly her fault.

"Out!" he ordered her, and for once she scuttled away without complaint, eyes wide. Someone would come up to investigate, he knew, and he wasn't keen on putting the blame on her. Then he gave Sneasel and Typhlosion death glares before returning them to their Pokeballs. That was their punishment: confinement. His Sneasel would hold a grudge, but he knew Typhlosion would get over it. He was a happy Pokemon by nature.

Slowly, the rest of his Pokemon resumed entertaining themselves. Gengar was skittish and refused to practice again, so Silver gave up. He ended up playing cards with Alakazam while the other three watched them. Alakazam was the only one smart enough to actually play, but Gengar in particular was fascinated by the game. Silver didn't mind. He would be curious too, if humans were entertained by little slips of paper with patterns and, occasionally, faces on them.

Lyra came back around eight o'clock, where she informed Silver that she "had ennui and wanted to see what you were doing." He was surprised she knew what _ennui_ even meant, but he didn't press. Alakazam and he switched the game to rummy and Lyra joined in. It was silent and tense; at eight thirty, Alakazam was the proud winner, gesturing to his cards and crowing Alakazam-style - that is, by not saying anything and just gesturing with a triumphant expression on his face. Lyra pouted, crossing her arms and looking childish, but Silver just shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if Alakazam was smarter than Professor Elm, and that was saying something.

At this point Silver shooed Lyra off to her room, for he was ready to sleep. _Early to bed and early to rise, _Silver reflected as he slipped under the covers. His Pokemon curled up around him, per usual, with Magneton lying on the ground, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. The other three, including Alakazam, made themselves comfortable on the bed.

The last thing he remembered before drifting off was the warmth of Honchkrow's body near his face and thinking, _Five days to go..._

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><p><strong>Whoo! Long. Longer than I expected. Please review, if you would! Thanks!<strong>


	3. Day 3: Revelation

**And here is Day 3. These take so long to write. So, so long. Not that I don't like it, but… you know. Anyway, I've done three days, so that means I have… four to go. **

**Siiiiigh.**

**Notes: Oftentimes I find myself writing in first-person for a bit. Then I have to go back and change it all to third person. It's very aggravating.**

Ninja of Night**: Why yes, you **_**were**_** mentioned! Amazing, isn't it? I like to let my reviewers know I appreciate them.**

Mewtwomaster58**: I've always thought of Lyra as an airhead simply because of her hat. And I fail at the romance genre, but indeed, Silver is falling in love. Or rather, he's already in love but he refuses to admit it. Something along those lines.**

pokefan113**: I'm just cool like that. Seriously. And I am glad you're interested, seeing as this story was the result of writer's block and therefore the quality should—theoretically—be worse than usual. But maybe it isn't. At this point, I'm not entirely sure. **

Girloveswaffles5**: Is that so? I can't help but agree. Every time I play the game as Lyra I find it almost impossible not to pair them together.**

**I own nothing except the plot. Except I learned that even if you have disclaimers, you can still get sued. Well, better than nothing.**

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><p>Silver woke when there was pounding on his door, early in the morning. Magneton was already up and floating, staring blankly the door with its unblinking eyes (and at this Silver finally concluded that Magneton could not, in fact, sleep). The rest of his Pokemon were shifting about, still struggling to awareness.<p>

He threw off his covers, carefully treaded his way past his Pokemon, and opened the door. It was the Nurse. Silver remembered his manners and asked, "Yes?" instead of his usual "What the hell do you want?" Another thing Lyra had forced him to learn.

"Yesterday there was an explosion, and numerous trainers are telling me it came from this room," the Nurse explained. Silver nodded. He had been expecting this, but it had come a little later than anticipated.

Well, Silver thought, let's not get into the details. "Yeah… Gengar's attack got a little out-of-hand. My Sneasel had distracted him."

Her brow furrowed as she examined him. Silver would agree that he looked like a bad boy—he wore dark clothes, his eyes were shadowed, et cetera—but his manners had probably convinced her he was to be trusted. Lyra's lessons hadn't all been a waste, apparently. "You'll have to pay for it," she warned him.

Silver knew that the discussion was almost done. "I will," he promised. Her eyes narrowed when he added, "When I return the keys."

She looked him over once more, but again, his politeness had convinced her he could be trusted. So she nodded tightly and walked off to her post. Silver sighed and closed his door. Maybe having his Pokemon train in his room was more trouble than it was worth.

… _Nah_. It was always fun to piss people off, almost as good as slamming doors. Which was why he didn't like Lyra, because she was always so freaking happy. No matter what things he did or things he said to her – she'd always be back the next day, always as peppy and cheerful as the one before. That part didn't really bother Silver, seeing as it gave him another chance to annoy her, but he still wanted to witness a miserable Lyra one of these days.

Silver returned his other Pokemon to their Pokeballs and didn't even bother to attempt to straighten up the room. Instead, he closed the door to his room and went to Lyra's. He could very well afford the payment for damages, but he still wanted to get some of her money. It was indirectly her fault, anyway.

He hadn't even knocked once on the door when it was flung open, revealing a harried-looking Lyra trying to pull on a sock one-handedly while jumping on one foot to keep her balance. And she was also trying to place her hat on her head. "What – oh! Hi, Silver!"

Silver watched her struggle with her clothes for a moment; then he sighed breezily. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't," she replied, finally managing to get the sock on. She pulled the marshmallow hat down onto her head as she told him, "I heard footsteps and I thought they were yours, since you wake up so early. I wanted to try training in the morning too, so I figured I'd better hurry up!"

She slipped into her shoes while clipping all six Pokeballs to her waist. Silver couldn't help but admire the smooth, practiced motions as she continued, "And anyway, I should be paying for half of the damage done, and I figured you'd pay once you returned your key."

Silver blinked. Maybe Lyra knew him better than she was letting on. And he had tried so hard to remain unreadable and distant…

Silver walked down the stairs to the counter while Lyra finished up, holding her wallet and his own. He also had both keys. He had just finished paying for the damage as well as returning the keys when Lyra tromped down the stairs, whistling a merry tune that Silver couldn't quite recognize. The Nurse flashed him a knowing smile as the two left. Silver didn't like the look of that smile. It was almost like she was _implying_ there was something when there obviously _wasn't_…

"It stopped raining!" Lyra yelled unnecessarily once they were outside. Silver winced and slapped his hands over his ears. She was going to burst his eardrums at this rate. _Doesn't she know how early it is right now?_

The rain had indeed ceased, and the sun was shining brightly, but the ground was still wet as they walked down to a clearing a good ways away from the town. This time Silver focused exclusively on his Alakazam. They were practicing his Psychic attack, which Silver wanted to try to use as a defensive maneuver. He was pretty sure the Pokemon could block a Swift attack if it could use Psychic efficiently enough. Lyra, meanwhile, simply watched him instead of training. Silver didn't mind. Lyra was such an airhead that occasionally Silver thought of her as empty space. And this was one of those times.

An hour later, after training and breakfast, the pair began to walk down the path to the forest. That was when Silver spotted a large puddle ahead and veered sharply to the left, so much so that there was a good yard between him and the liquid. Why did he do this? The answer was simple, really.

He still flinched when Lyra jumped straight into the puddle, splashing water everywhere within a rather large radius. Fortunately, Silver was out of range and just shook his head as she giggled. Her clothes from waist down were now a mess, but he was fairly certain she didn't care. She was, after all, wearing overalls. But he wasn't sure about her knee-high socks. Or her shoes, for that matter. But Silver would bet that they had gone through a lot worse than a mere puddle.

Well, what did it matter to him? Silver's fashion sense was a little quirky too.

"C'mon, Silver! Jump in a puddle!" Lyra reached out to snag his arm, but he expertly dodged the grab. She didn't fall forward, but it was awfully close to a huge splashdown.

"No. Don't you remember what happened last time?" Silver said disdainfully. The memory was a rather humorous one for him, but not so much for Lyra.

She pouted. She did that a lot, especially when she didn't want to show him that he annoyed her. "That's not going to happen again," she insisted.

Silver rolled his eyes. "Just because Ethan was there doesn't mean it will be different." That time, the two had tried to pounce behind him and drag him into a huge puddle they'd discovered in the National Park. What had ended up happening? Well, Silver had twisted around, grabbed them by the scuff, and threw them face first into it instead. Ethan had been boiling mad, and Lyra had been pretty pissed too. That was when Silver had discovered that Lyrya could be _very_ scary when she was angry. But, nevertheless, Silver was in a very good mood for a few days after, minus the fact he had to avoid the pair. They wanted revenge.

Silver wasn't sure if they had actually gotten it in the end, and he regretted bringing it back up. Perhaps Lyra would seek vengeance right now, and Silver didn't know what to expect. She tended to have the wildest ideas, and most of them always ended in the same way: a mortified _and_ terrified Silver. And Silver hated being mortified and terrified, especially at the same time. That was when he was emotionally weak, and Lyra and Ethan knew just how to take advantage of that.

"You just caught us by surprise last time," Lyra insisted. Silver accepted this statement with a nod; it was true. The element of surprise, Silver knew, was the key to many plans of his, since Ethan never planned ahead and Lyra – well, Lyra _never_ planned. Both, he reflected with a sigh and a slight shake of his head, were idiots, when it came down to it.

He turned his back to her and continued walking down the road, which was deserted so early in the morning. Ilex Forest awaited. Silver wanted to get to the shrine there early enough so they wouldn't have to spend the night. After learning of his heritage there Silver wanted to pay his respects to Celebi. But he knew that would need a little planning to do a one-day trip through the Forest. There were too many trees, it was easy to get lost, and what's more, there were lots of playful Pokemon that would attack for fun.

But then, too late, he realized his mistake: _he had turned his back to Lyra_. And Lyra took advantage of this by looping an arm around his neck and dragging him backward, right to where Silver knew the puddle was located. He was _not_ going to ruin his shoes if he could help it. They were brand new, for Arceus' sake, he had just bought them in Goldenrod a few weeks ago!

So he brought his foot down on Lyra's foot – not hard enough to break any bones, of course, but not so light that there was no pain – making Lyra squeal and release him. Unfortunately, this made her start falling backward right to her wet doom. But, by some sort of instinct, Silver managed to grab her around the waist, catching her in mid-fall and ending up in a position he had only seen in movies.

"You're welcome," he muttered, quickly straightening up his friend and turning away, horrified as a blush crept up his face. He, Silver, had just grabbed his rival, Lyra, around the waist. He could've done it around the shoulders, but _no_, he had to do it around the waist. He had to admit his arm felt perfect there, but – no, wait, Silver didn't _like_ Lyra at all, he just respected her. What was he thinking? His arm only felt perfect there because he had caught her at the exact right moment. Yes. That was it exactly.

He continued his walk down to Ilex Forest, not even registering Lyra's light footsteps behind him. Had he not been so embarrassed he might've looked back and see Lyra's fce was just as red, if not more so, than his own. But he was so mortified that he didn't dare turn around. So it ended up being two flustered teens walking down the road, one a little behind the other, and not even conscious that the other was just as flustered as the other.

By the time they'd reached the entrance of the Forest, however, the two had recovered. "Ilex Forest!" Lyra squealed, resulting in an eye roll from Silver. But then Lyra said, in a rare moment of insight, "I've heard legends of Celebi. The time-travel Pokemon. Do you think she'll appear?"

Silver doubted it, but all he did was shrug. He was going to be more careful around Lyra now. That little incident had been… an eye-opener, to say the least. Oh, that didn't mean Silver liked Lyra – of course not. He was just very… embarrassed… to… have to save his rival. Yes. Exactly that.

And so the pair entered the Forest, Silver with misgivings and Lyra with her usual cheerful airhead-ed-ness. Not that "airheadedness" is a word, of course, but Silver found it fit her personality at the moment perfectly.

Lyra started to babble again, this time about how the trees made the forest as dark as night, but she spoke quietly. The whole forest was hushed; to Silver and her, it felt right not to break the soft noises with a loud sound. Thus Silver found Lyra only one-fourth as annoying as before, and Lyra – well, Silver didn't know what Lyra thought in her head. She was an idiot. For all he knew she might be thinking about ice cream and be talking about the sticks on the ground.

It was long trek; the shrine was pretty much on the far side of the forest. But Silver knew they had left early enough, and they would probably arrive by late afternoon, perhaps early evening, if they kept their pace. Fortunately their pace was a slow and easy walk, so they wouldn't have to make any stops.

Or at least he hoped they wouldn't. Lyra had gotten tired "spelunking" in the cave, so who knows what would happen here? She might trip over a twig and decide she was exhausted. She was so childish it wasn't even funny… but in a way, it was charming.

He paused in his thoughts. _Charming?_ There was proof that Lyra was definitely affecting Silver's word bank.

It took a moment for him to realize that Lyra had stopped to admire a flower. He came back to her side in a few quick steps as she said softly, gently fingering the white petals, "Look, there's still dew on them," noticing Silver's silent presence at her side. Indeed there was, but Silver didn't see how this was a source of excitement. It was a plant with water on it; what was the big deal? "Look how it sparkles," she continued, as if she had read his mind. "Isn't it pretty?"

Silver looked at the delicate, pristine petals once before he gave her an odd look. He would never understand her. As he said before, it was a freaking _plant_ with water on it. Yes, it was sparkly, but all in all, Silver was not impressed.

But after a few more minutes of Lyra gently exploring the surroundings, Silver felt a bit envious. What could she see that he couldn't? Was the whole world beautiful in her view? Why couldn't he see it? Questions continued to bubble in his mind, but he knew it would be pointless to ask them, even to his own mind. There was no direct answer in the present. Their conflicting views probably stemmed from their childhood.

Silver knew that Lyra had had a good childhood, unlike himself. Which was why he always wondered why Lyra stuck around with him. Of course, she had never gone out on a limb and _asked_ him about his past. She had never asked him anything that make him feel truly awkward. She always respected his privacy. Which was nice.

She was probably the only person who actually respected for being himself.

And that, Silver concluded, is probably why I like her so much.

And then: _No. I don't _like_ her… I just respect her. _It was getting annoying, these thoughts. He had to constantly remind himself that it was out of respect that he did these things for her, and not because he liked her. He didn't love her, after all. He didn't even near like her. All he did was respect her.

"Silver, let's go! We need to get to out of here by nightfall, right?"

He allowed himself the ghost of a smile before treading after her, footsteps light against the grass. At least she wasn't a complete idiot, this rival that he li—respected.

She was practically skipping as they continued through the quiet forest, and for once Silver appreciated the slivers of sunlight coming through the trees' leaves. Before, it had always bothered him; he had always been partial to the dark. Now, he had discovered they distracted Lyra from talking for a few moments. She would pause and just look at it before saying something about how the light dappled the green forest floor. He didn't really get why she was so happy about it, but he left her to it. More peace and quiet for him.

It was nearly six o'clock by the time the duo had reached the shrine. Lyra went up to it and examined it, walking around its perimeter, but Silver was glad to see she didn't touch it. He, himself, went up to it and took off his bag, fishing around in it for his offering. Lyra stepped back as he broke off a piece of a Rage Candy Bar and placed it carefully on the shrine. He would give the Time Travel Pokemon something better if he could, like one of those Poffins from Sinnoh, if he could get his hands on them. But for now the Candy Bar would have to do.

In the meantime, he closed his eyes and whispered his thanks to Celebi. It was here that he had learned his true heritage, and he was glad the Pokemon had shown him. It was much better than being parentless, and besides, now he knew he never wanted to end up like his father in any way… wherever he was.

He was completely at peace a few moments later, when he swung his bag over his shoulder and continued walking on the path as if nothing had happened. Lyra quickly followed, and he knew it was only a matter of time before she started asking questions. But for the moment, he was calm and – dare he say it – content.

They barely made it out of the forest in time; the sun was nearly setting as they stepped foot on Route 34. This was when Lyra asked him, "What was with you and the shrine?"

He was hesitant to tell her. If he did, he'd have to admit his heritage, and he was afraid to tell her. After all, his father was Giovanni. Lyra had practically shut down Team Rocket herself when they had "revived" a little while ago. She would probably reject his company as a friend, and Silver would be back on his own.

_Don't I want that, though?_

The answer was instantaneous: No. He didn't want that anymore. Being friends with Lyra—and through her, Ethan—had opened doors Silver hadn't even known most people had. He wanted to stay friends with her, strangely enough. He blinked and wondered at himself. Just a few days earlier he had wanted to be left alone. But now that he really thought about it, he knew he didn't want to be left alone. How strange the mind was.

But should he really tell her?

Quickly, his logic won over his fear. _You'll have to do it someday. Might as well do it now and get it over with_.

Silver had just gotten over with hating himself, thanks to Lyra and Ethan; now he knew he hated that logic side of his mind.

"Well?" Lyra pressed. Silver blinked again. He really had to stop the habit of getting stuck in his thoughts.

"I learned who my father was there," Silver said curtly. Knowing Lyra, she'd press on, and that would mean he'd have to admit he saw Celebi and he saw his father.

"Really? How? Who's your father?" See? He knew her pretty well at this point?

"Celebi brought me back in time," Silver replied, his voice very quiet. It was as if the whole world was holding its breath. "And I saw him."

"_Celebi?_ You… You saw _Celebi?_" For some reason this seemed to impact Lyra the most.

"And my father," he reminded her.

"Oh, yeah, that too. But… you're so lucky," Lyra said. Was that _envy_ in her voice? Lyra was never envious, Silver knew that. "I've seen all sorts of legendaries myself, but never Celebi."

"I… see." Well, not quite what he was expecting. But maybe this way she wouldn't ask who his father was.

"But anyway. Who's your dad, then? Did you get his name?"

Ah, hopes dashed. "His name was Giovanni," Silver said, forcing the words out of his mouth. He didn't dare look at her face now, especially when he heard her inhale sharply. "He was the leader of Team Rocket."

There was silence, only interrupted by a breeze whisking up some leaves. Silver began to walk forward toward Goldenrod City, ears listening acutely for Lyra's soft footsteps behind him. They came, but for a few breathless moments Silver was sure his only true friend had abandoned him.

For once, Lyra said nothing, but when he quickly spared a glance, he saw her face was thoughtful. He was afraid she would be expressionless, hiding her fear behind a mask, but no. She was thinking it through. Silver hadn't even known she was able to think.

Well, no, he had. It was just so rare to see her serious he forgot half of the time.

They reached the PokeCenter late, and while Silver knew he should sleep, he could not. So, after releasing all his Pokemon in his room, he went for a walk, taking his Sneasel with him. Partly it was to apologize for confining the Pokemon for the whole day. But it was also because he needed company, and also because it was the only one small enough that it wouldn't attract too much attention. Well, actually, he wasn't sure about the last one. But, in all, he just wanted company.

He backtracked to the scenic Route 34 and sat near the water's edge. His Sneasel settled into his lap, curling up much like a cat would, tucking his dangerous claws away from his master's body. Silver absently stroked its head, avoiding the red feather, and stared at the water. _Half-moon_, he noted absently. Was he here to reflect? Or was he here simply to escape for one night?

His Sneasel let out something that was a cross of a purr and a growl, and Silver affectionately scratched him behind the feather, his favorite spot. Sneasel had been one of his first Pokemon, and he was probably one of his favorites as well.

"I thought I'd find you out here."

Silver jumped, startling Sneasel enough that he tumbled out of his master's lap. Silver deftly caught the Pokemon before he rolled right into the water and replaced him in his original position.

"Figures you would come," Silver replied, resuming his scratching. Sneasel calmed down after a few seconds of it.

"Of course." Lyra sat down next to him. Her hair was down, but she still had her day clothes on. Silver had to admit the long hair without the hat was a major improvement. And with the moonshine on her face, she was truly pretty.

_Oh, crap_. Silver was now getting seriously concerned. His belief that he respected her was beginning to waver.

"So. What brings you here?" he asked instead to hide his embarrassment.

She gave him a look that asked _Are you stupid?_ "To talk to you, of course."

Silver quickly backtracked. She was, at the moment, serious. He shouldn't be messing around. "Then talk. I'll listen."

She was silent for a few moments. Then she reached over and held her hand out for Sneasel to sniff. The movement almost caused Silver to flinch; he felt like his heart was jumping out of his chest. In fact, he was almost certain she could hear it.

"I've been thinking about what you said, about your dad and all," she said. Sneasel licked her finger, and she began to pet his head, right next to Silver's hand. "It was kind of a shock. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

He almost said "No reason" but quickly went against it. That would just turn her against him, and he couldn't afford to do that. No. He could, but he didn't _want_ to do that. So he went with honesty. It was foreign to Silver, but he managed to mutter, "I was afraid."

"Of what?"

This was when Silver felt like squirming. It was embarrassing, and it would also mean Lyra would see his newfound softer side. Silver never wanted people to know of it, because otherwise he would be expected to be nice. He did not want to act nice; after all, it was much easier to be mean. _Honesty_, he reminded himself forcefully.

"Losing you," he said. Then he winced inwardly. Oh, Arceus, that sounded like he loved her or something. "As a friend," he added quickly. That had been very close. He _knew_ it had sounded better in his head…

Lyra was giving him that thoughtful look again, but he could just see pink coloring her cheeks. "You were afraid of losing me, as a friend," she repeated. Silver desperately hoped she wouldn't start shoving it in his face later. It was the perfect revenge/blackmail material, after all.

Silver nodded once in answer to her question.

Her hand slowed, and Sneasel looked up questioningly (_Why has the nice human stopped petting me?_ Silver knew he was wondering). Silver looked over again and saw she was nodding slowly. "That makes sense," she said at last. "After all, I was the one who shut down Team Rocket the second time."

_Exactly._ He said nothing.

"Well, to be honest with you, I don't know why I'm making such a big deal about it. I mean, Giovanni was your dad: great. But really, you're not anything like him, so I don't see why…" She trailed off. Then she continued, "It was rude of me not to say anything when you told me earlier today. So I'm sorry about that."

_Oh, so _now_ she was apologizing for scaring him to hell and back_. Silver frowned. That was overdoing it a little. He hadn't been that afraid of losing her, had he?

"Thank you," Silver said instead. He knew the words meant so much more than just that. He also knew she'd understand.

And so the two got up and walked back to the PokeCenter. They went to their rooms, bidding each other goodnight. Silver curled up in bed with all his Pokemon crowded around him, especially grateful for their support.

No matter what he thought, he was not alone anymore.

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><p><strong>This took for-ev-a. And I'm so not good at touchy scenes. Well, anyway, thanks for reading and please review!<strong>


	4. Day 4: Her Confession

**Day 4! Pardon me for the _very_ late update… I'm doing my best, but these take a very long time. By the way, check out my accounts on Fictionpress and Wattpad. They're under the same pen name :)**

**Notes: This chapter gets to the moment we've all been waiting for... kind of... maybe...**

Metal Star Tiger**: You kind of remind me of myself when I'm hyper. Except it seems you're always hyper. Not that it's a bad thing, of course :)**

Ninja of Night**: *grins ruefully* Probably not at this point… If I spend too long thinking about one thing, ideas tend to flow. So no, I don't have writer's block anymore.**

Girloveswaffles5**: Aren't they adorable?**

MewBladeXxX**: Hey, you changed your pen name to the one I voted for! Nice. Anyway, I'm glad you approve—I was afraid it was going to be a huge crash-and-burn sort of thing. You were thinking that too? Excellent.**

pokefan113**: It helps that I've played the games, read articles on Bulbapedia, and read the manga :) One gets a lot of info from those places. Plus, I love Pokemon so much that I pride myself on knowing most everything! I've also restarted SoulSilver - the actual game - so I can get a better idea of Silver's lovely personality. He actually talks more than I thought he did...**

Sapphiet**: Hello, new reviewer, nice to meet you. I'm very happy you think so!**

**I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

><p>The next morning Silver woke up late.<p>

It was a strange feeling for him. He woke up, blinked, and noticed there was sunlight streaming through the blinds on his window. He wondered why, for a moment. Then he realized it was morning. Late morning.

_Very_ late morning.

Then he noticed that his Pokemon were all up, all watching Alakazam doing something with a deck of cards on the floor. It took his brain a few blurry moments to realize they were learning how to play poker, and Alakazam was the one explaining.

Arceus. The last thing Silver needed were Pokemon who gambled. He resolved to hide his wallet in his coat instead of his bag.

He got up with a soft sigh and stretched. Immediately his Gengar vanished, but then reappeared up onto the bed, that creepy little grin inches from Silver's face. Silver couldn't help but smile as he patted the ghost's head before he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. When he stood up his Typhlosion came up and gave him a hug. Silver awkwardly patted his back, him being too big for the boy to actually hug (and besides, Silver was not used to hugging). The rest of his Pokemon were too entranced by the cards to greet their master. That was fine by Silver. Let them entertain themselves, so long as they didn't bet all of his money away later.

He went to the bathroom and took a shower, coming back into the room to find all of his Pokemon now in a heated game of poker. They were betting with… he cracked a smile. They had discovered the stash of Pokemon food that they always had in PokeCenter rooms. It was nice to know his Pokemon were resourceful as usual.

"I'm going out for a bit," he told them. Sneasel immediately dropped his cards and scampered over to him, but the rest of his Pokemon continued playing. "Don't get into any trouble," he warned the other five, and they nodded seriously to him before resuming their game. Alakazam swept Sneasel's cards into his pile; it seemed he was the one handing the cards out.

Silver closed and locked his door before plodding down the hallway and, from there, the stairs, stifling a yawn, his Sneasel's claws clicking against the tiles next to him. He felt like relaxing. He had done a lot of walking these past few days. It would be nice to be doing nothing in particular for a while.

Oh, he didn't plan on wasting the whole day. One only lives once, after all. He was going to get some training in later in the afternoon, probably, if he could get of his Pokemon out. But he wasn't planning to leave Goldenrod until tomorrow.

With a plan in place, he found himself content as he and Sneasel meandered into the lobby. He didn't see Lyra anywhere, which was good: his content mood was not going to go away soon, it seemed. He went out of the PokeCenter in search for breakfast.

Outside, he immediately spotted the marshmallow-hat girl nearby, playing with a Marill near the water's edge. Silver's first thought was _that Marill looks familiar_… then he realized with a lurch that he knew exactly whose it was. With a muttered curse Silver began to hurry away from the scene, hoping against hope that he hadn't been seen. Sneasel, sensing his master's wishes, followed as a silent shadow.

He was just trotting around the corner when someone grabbed him from behind. _I was so close, too…_ "Where're you going?" a voice asked. Ethan's. Silver didn't even bother trying to kick the offender, nor did Sneasel attempt to attack him. Instead, Silver shook himself free with an irritated hiss and followed the other boy with dragging steps.

"Oh, there you are, Silver!" Lyra's voice actually made Silver feel slightly more awake. And by that, he meant panicked-awake. The day, apparently, was not going to be relaxing at all. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Ten thirty?" he guessed in a dry drawl, crossing his arms. His Sneasel copied his motion, which made Ethan smile as sat down and took his Marill into his lap.

Lyra blinked, checking her PokeGear. "Whoa, that's pretty good. It's ten thirty-six." Then she teased, "You slept in, huh?"

Silver grunted. It was obvious to everyone but her.

An emotion flashed across her face, but it was quickly replaced with her normal cheery smile. Silver noticed, but didn't know what to make of it. "I happened to run into Ethan when I went to get breakfast this morning," she said conversationally. "Have you been to the new game corner, Silver?"

_Hell yeah. _"A few times," he admitted instead. His Sneasel snickered but quickly stopped when he glared down at it.

"Ethan says it's not too hard. We should all go and try it!" Lyra exclaimed, clapping her hands together once and – fortunately – not noticing Sneasel's behavior.

Silver knew this would probably be his only opportunity to play the game again. They had always kicked him out when he came. Maybe he could bypass their security if he hid behind his two friends.

Then he remembered what he had come out for in the first place. "I haven't had breakfast," Silver told the pair. _So much for the game corner..._ "You might as well go without me."

To his pleasant surprise Ethan protested against it. "No way! If I'm better at this than you, I'll finally have something to gloat over." He got up, holding his Marill in his arms. "We'll come with. They have this great diner here, this way…"

It was a good diner, but Ethan and Lyra's endless chatter ruined Silver's whole eating experience. He was used to inhaling food in seconds and in silence; now, he was forced to stop, chew, swallow, mutter a response to a nonsensical question, and then resume eating. His Sneasel was digging into the bag of chips Lyra had splurged on for him, which didn't help. Lyra always doted on his Pokemon, and at the rate she was going, they were all going to get fat and lazy. Which is why Silver trained them all the time.

"You sure eat fast, Silver," Ethan commented once the redhead had paid and the trio had exited, Sneasel and Marill trotting at their heels.

Silver shrugged and didn't answer.

"Let's go, let's go!" Lyra called in a singsong voice, already halfway to the game corner. Ethan laughed, scooping up his Pokemon, and followed. Silver carefully treaded after them, his Sneasel close behind.

It was easier to get in than he had thought. All he did was walk between Ethan and Lyra and he was in. Simple, easy, and – most importantly – his Sneasel got in too without trouble.

But once Lyra sat across from the manager, Mr. Game, he was recognized. "You! It's – what – you – get out!" Mr. Game sputtered, pointing in the direction of the door.

Lyra vehemently came to his defense. "He hasn't even done anything, and you're telling him to get out?"

Ethan chimed in, "Besides, he's only been here a few times! Give him a break!"

Mr. Game groveled and muttered, but in the end he allowed Silver to stay. Silver smirked at him. He would be willing to bet the game master didn't expect him to have friends. To be honest, Silver was still a little in shock from it, too. The first time he'd met Lyra, he'd shoved her to the ground. But now, he truly li – respected her. It was strange.

Lyra was barely passable as a player, even though she tried multiple times. "This is stupid," she complained after a few plays. "How come I can't do it right?"

Ethan chuckled and said, keeping his voice low and mysterious, "Ah, you know not the ways of the game, young one. Allow the master to take your place."

_If only you knew who the master really was_, Silver thought to himself, hyperaware of the fact Lyra was now standing next to him. _Right_ next to him.

Silver had to admit that Ethan was actually pretty good. Of course, Silver knew he was better. But Ethan got pretty far before he pressed the wrong tile accompanied with a wince from Silver. "Aww," Ethan whined, but allowed Silver to take his place.

He met Mr. Game's accusing eyes and returned it with a predator's grin. Then, faster than any of the others could see, he began to play the game.

He was well past where Ethan had been in less than half of the time, with Lyra cheering and Ethan simply in awe. In twenty minutes alone he had completely the entire game.

Silver took out his Coin Case with a grin. "Pay up," he told Mr. Game, completely satisfied. That had been fun, and he got paid for it in prizes to boot.

Once Silver had obtained what he wanted from the two sunglasses guys in their little corner, he was immediately told to "leave the premises", which he did. Lyra and Ethan followed a short distance behind.

"You're really good at that, Silver," Lyra remarked once they were a good distance away from the Game Corner. They were walking back to the PokeCenter. Or rather, Silver was walking back to the PokeCenter with his two friends – and Pokemon – following.

Silver shrugged in response. There was nothing to say anyway.

"Not fair!" Ethan whined. "For once I thought I'd be better than Silver at _something_."

Silver shrugged again.

"Oh, Ethan. All you need to do is become as good as me at battling," Lyra said, attempting to console her childhood friend. Then she thought about what she had just said. "And to do that, you need to fight me and end it in a draw… at Indigo Plateau…"

"And we all know _that_ is impossible, seeing as it's impossible for Silver to beat you, and I can't beat Silver. So," Ethan said, in a rare moment of insight, "By the transitive property of Pokemon trainers, I can't beat you."

Lyra gaped at him.

Ethan gave her an offended look. "What? I did pay attention in school, you know!"

Silver found that hard to believe. Lyra voiced his thoughts before he could form the words on his tongue, though. "Didn't we all drop out when we were ten, though?" she pointed out. "How do you know what that… property even is?"

"Unlike you two," Ethan said smugly, "I had time to pursue my studies while you were out… adventuring."

Silver still didn't believe it. "If that's true, then let me test you," he told his friend.

His friend's smirk widened. "I know more than you do, Silver. That's the only thing I top you: studies."

"I beg to differ," Silver retorted. "Tell me, what trigonometric function would you use if you had a right triangle with the hypotenuse measuring three, the long leg measuring five, the angle measure between them measuring 58 degrees, and you were trying to find the angle between the short leg and the hypotenuse?"

Silver knew the answer to that one. It was pretty simple, actually. This problem didn't even involve any math, since it simply asked what the trigonometric function you'd use – which was sine, by the way. He had learned this at his father's knee when he had been younger, before Giovanni had… well, deserted him.

He hadn't known who that fatherly figure had been when he'd recalled those memories, until Celebi had shown him the truth. But he'd been constantly told by the figure that he was incredibly smart, and that he'd be a wonderful heir when the time came. _Which meant_, Silver reflected, _when Giovanni came old and turned his leadership of Team Rocket over to someone, it'd be to me._

In the present situation, when the redhead saw as Ethan melted into a puddle of confusion, it was his turn to smirk. "You just want to the trigonometric function, though, right?" Lyra asked him after Ethan began to blubber nonsensically.

Silver nodded in answer to her question. Lyra continued, "Well, then, that's pretty easy, right? I learned that in school. Since we're finding the angle opposite the longer leg, we'd take the sine of the equation, wouldn't we? Because sine equals the opposite leg over the hypotenuse, so…"

She trailed off and an uncertain expression crossed her face when Silver and Ethan both gave her stunned looks. "What?" she asked. "I paid attention too. When I wasn't sleeping…"

After a few moments Ethan shook it off. "And here I was trying to find the angle measure," he muttered. Then he told Silver, "Really, ginger, you know how to piss me off."

Silver shoved his hands in his pockets with a small grin – one that he could only show his friends – as Lyra scolded, "Ethan! That's not a nice thing to say!"

Ethan shrugged. "I was kidding, Lyra. Jeez. You don't need to protect him all the time."

For some reason, this made Lyra all flustered. "I do – I don't – I – "

Ethan and Silver exchanged glances, a little surprised. Lyra wasn't one to get flustered, especially to an innocent comment like that. She was such an airhead that she always took whatever came her way with grace and improvisation. Silver knew that firsthand.

_Well, maybe not with grace_. Silver didn't want to think about where the word had even come from. Instead, he cast a sidelong glance at Lyra. She was completely red and muttering a response to Ethan, and Silver wondered vaguely if Ethan had asked her a question. This was answered as Ethan backed off, holding his hands up in a surrender gesture. "I was just wondering," he protested. "Besides, Silver didn't hear a thing."

"I didn't hear what?" Silver asked, his curiosity piqued.

In response Lyra turned her back to him and Ethan shot him a winning smile, the one that caused girls to flock to him like bug Pokemon to a flame. "Nothing really important," he replied. Silver frowned, raising his eyebrows quizzically at him, and Ethan added, "Yet."

How is that supposed to answer my question? Silver thought, but he didn't press. He was one to let things happen when they did.

"Anyway," Ethan continued, "Now that I've found out Silver is better than me in everything, my spirit is crushed. I take my leave!" With that he spun on his heel and departed, his Marill bounding besides him. Silver and Lyra watched him go.

"See you later," Silver said, turning and beginning the short trek to the PokeCenter. His Sneasel quickly went after him, casting a doubtful glance back at the flushed girl.

When Silver entered his room, he was shocked. It was completely the same as before. Even his Pokemon were in the same position; huddled around on the floor, cards either being held, floated or – or – or hidden in the room. _They were still playing poker_. He was sure they'd destroy the place, them being prone to fights and such.

"All right, that's enough," Silver told them. Four heads snapped up, plus three eyes, surprised; they weren't expecting him this early. "Clean that up, please. We're going out soon."

A few of them grumbled, but they complied and soon Silver was out walking, six Pokeballs at his waist. He felt content; his friends, human and not, tended to have that influence on him. Add the fact the marshmallow hat girl was nowhere to be found, and one has a very satisfied Silver.

He visited the Gym, just briefly, so he could recall what type it specialized in. When Whitney appeared out of nowhere and challenged him, he recalled violently that it was Normal-type. Her Clefairy had since evolved into a Clefable, and it was annoying Silver because it constantly used Attract. He resolved to get his hands on – what were they called? Ah, that's right – a Destiny Knot as soon as he could. Still, he managed to defeat the pink-haired girl in a rather short period of time.

"Still as strong as ever," Whitney commented with a rueful sigh. Then she perked up. "Say, where's that girlfriend of yours? Lyra was her name, right? Can I challenge her?"

_Girlfriend?_

Silver managed not to blush and instead snapped, "She's not my girlfriend and no, I don't know where she is." With that he turned around and, after walking through the highly girly and confusing Gym, exited the building. He could've sworn he heard Whitney chuckle behind him.

Lyra was outside – in fact she almost bumped right into Silver. "Hi, Silver," she said. Silver blinked; it was like half of her energy was gone. Then she asked, just a little too casually, "What were you doing in there?"

He shrugged. "I forgot what type this Gym specialized in. I went in to ask the guy with sunglasses, but then Whitney challenged me, so I was delayed."

Was that _relief_ on her face? "Oh. I see."

"Yeah. And Whitney wanted to battle you," Silver told her. Once he said this he was reminded that the girly Gym leader had called Lyra his _girlfriend_. He barely kept himself from blushing as Lyra said something in assent and went in.

Then she poked her head out. "You're not going to leave without me, are you?" she asked.

It was an innocent question; but Silver felt like there was desperation in her voice. Or something like that. "… No," he said after a lengthy pause.

Lyra smiled – not her normal, always-there smile. But a big, happy smile. _Maybe a true smile, _Silver thought. "Thanks, Silver!" With that she was gone, the glass doors sliding shut after her.

Silver stared at the empty space for a long time before he turned around with a muttered curse to himself. He wasn't ready to admit to himself, but deep down, he knew he had become attached to her. Before, if she'd even dared ask him a question like that, he wouldn't have even replied; instead, he would've just left with a cold sneer. But now…

_How times have changed,_ he thought.

A half-hour later – though it felt like hours to Silver – Lyra finally exited. Was Silver still in the same place? Of course not – he wasn't a stalker, after all. No, he was simply strolling aimlessly around the town, his Sneasel padding next to him. He just so happened to be passing the Gym as she exited, and she just as easily fell into step with him. He found his feelings were mixed. He was irritated she had joined him, but he was also… pleased.

Silver was seriously concerned. He briefly considered consulting a doctor.

"So, are you going to ask me what I did in there?" Lyra asked him.

Immediately disturbing thoughts entered Silver's head – _she could've phrased that a whole lot better –_ but he brushed them aside as he said, "No."

He knew she'd tell him anyway, and he was right, of course. "I fought Whitney," she said, a huge smile lighting up her face, "And I talked with all the girls in there. Silver, you wouldn't _believe_ the gossip about you."

Silver raised an eyebrow. Gossip? About him? And he thought Lyra was the celebrity.

Of course, being the celebrity's friend probably had something to do with it...

Lyra laughed. "I knew you'd do that, your eyebrow raising thing. You should've heard the things they said."

"Such as?" Despite himself, his curiosity was piqued and Silver wanted to know what about him was so desirable.

"Well, they think your eyes are really…" She frowned, as if trying to recall. Then she remembered and exclaimed, "Entrancing! That was it. 'Silver pools', they called it, 'of entrancing beauty'." She cast him a furtive glance, itching to see his reaction. There was none, so she continued, "And then, they thought that you were cool because you were always so cold and stuff."

_I wonder how that is in any way attractive_, Silver thought, but he didn't interrupt.

"And also, they think you wear designer clothes."

Silver looked down. He had bought these in a clothes store in… he couldn't quite remember. He always wore the same thing, and had several outfits that were exactly the same. But he didn't think they had designer labels on them.

He tried to think of witty answers and came up with an astounding "Hm".

"That's what _I_ said!" Lyra exclaimed, oblivious to his confusion. "And…" Her voice suddenly lowered. "They asked if you were still single," she whispered.

Silver slowly turned his head and gave his friend a long look. She blushed slightly – rather cutely, Silver had to admit, before he scolded himself mentally for thinking that for someone he merely respected – and after a bit she asked, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No," he said, slowly, as if he were talking to a young child. But considering Lyra's usual maturity level, it was fairly accurate. "It's just… what makes you think I'm in a relationship?"

Lyra shrugged, blushing even more deeply. "Um… I never know with you, I guess."

"I have no friends," he reminded her. Quickly, he realized his mistake and added, "Except for you and Ethan."

She had looked hurt when he had said the first statement, but brightened up as soon as he amended it. "I'm glad," she said with a small grin. Silver blinked, a little puzzled, but didn't comment.

It was late afternoon when the pair finally traveled out of Goldenrod. They hadn't done much, and Silver was finally feeling refreshed. This whole traveling-with-the-marshmallow-hat-girl hadn't been so bad, once he'd gotten a little more used to her endless chatter (key words: a little more). As they stepped into the lobby before the National Park, he briefly noted that they had now traveled in a loop in about five days. Not bad.

Well, no. That was a lie. Silver could travel the same distance in less than two days if he sped up his normal pace. But that was just him. He felt uneasy whenever he stayed in one place.

"We should go to Mount Silver," Lyra said suddenly. He wasn't paying attention, but when he heard his name - no, rather, the name of the mountain, he turned to her.

"What?" he asked as they stepped out into the National Park.

She gave him an amused look. "Mount Silver. We could fly to the PokeCenter at the foothills and sleep there, and then climb the mountain the next day."

It was a good suggestion. Silver knew that the Mount that shared his name had very strong Pokemon – it would be perfect for training. So he said, "Sure."

He didn't register Lyra staring at him in shock for a few moments, but when he did, he asked, "What?"

Her mouth clamped shut and a smile tugged at her lips. "Nothing," she sang, twirling around and releasing her Noctowl at the same time. "Okay, let's go now!"

Silver realized with a sigh that he'd be skipping dinner again. Well, he'd managed before; he'd be fine. So he released his Honchkrow, and the two mounted up. People shot them curious glances as Lyra yelled "Fly!" while Silver opted a more inconspicuous commanding option by simply telling his Pokemon "Follow the stupid girl."

The two birds complied their masters' wishes and soon the pair was soaring in the skies. Silver didn't go flying that often, and it wasn't something he particularly enjoyed. It was just something you had to do sometimes. Lyra, however, seemed to be enjoying every single moment of it. She constantly turned to him and spoke gaily, but he never caught any of the words. The wind was blowing too loudly in his ears.

And another thing. It was strange to find the lock of hair normally covering his eye was being blown away from his face. He could see out of both eyes for once. Perhaps he should just tuck it out of the way when they landed. It would save him a lot of trouble.

Afternoon wore into evening, and the view of the sunset from so high up was spectacular. So spectacular that Lyra called for a break, and the two descended somewhere along the Route from Kanto to Johto (or the other way around, Silver reflected). There were bridges there, and Lyra wasted no time pulling her shoes and socks off and sitting at the edge of the wood, kicking her feet in the water. Silver stood next to her, a silent shadow.

He still didn't know what was so beautiful about a sunset. It was just a big ball of gas turning orange and red and whatever, descending below the horizon. Admittedly, it reflected off the waves very… prettily, but Silver never paid attention to petty details like that.

"Isn't it pretty?" Lyra asked him suddenly, observing their two Flying Pokemon frolic in the shallow water nearby.

_The sun or the Pokemon?_ Silver thought but didn't say. Instead he nodded and told her, "I guess."

She gave him an incredulous stare. "You _guess_?"

Silver shrugged. He had never told Lyra he had no perception of beauty. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to, anyway. "Yeah."

Lyra stared at him for a few moments longer, but a loud squawk from her Noctowl quickly brought her attention away from him. Silver released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding as she called, "Don't get too feisty, you two!" The two birds cawed in assent and continued their play.

She returned to looking at the sunset. After a few moments, completely bored, Silver shifted his glance to Lyra. For some reason, the first adjective he came up with was _cute_. But he had no perception of beauty… why would he call his respected rival and friend cute? It really made no sense. But then, of course, once he thought that, more adjectives popped into his head. He brushed most of them aside: dainty, nice, gentle, kind… but he stopped at one in particular, one that caused his throat to tighten and his cheeks to blush just the faintest red.

_Beautiful_.

Was he going insane? Why was he calling Lyra, the airhead, the marshmallow-hat girl, _beautiful_? What about her made her beautiful? Her eyes? Her long, shiny brown hair? Her porcelain skin? Maybe –

Silver stopped his thoughts there. He didn't want to know what his brain would come up with.

He had just shifted his attention to something else, i. e. the sunset, when Lyra whipped her head around to look at him. He thanked Arceus that he had looked away when he did, and he pretended he didn't notice Lyra observe him. The girl was so pathetically easy to read sometimes. She couldn't even lie to Ethan's face, and Ethan was not very… bright.

Finally, after a few long moments, Silver asked irritably, "What?"

Lyra jumped and hastily looked away, singing, "Nothing!"

After a few more minutes Lyra got up, walked over to her Noctowl, and eased onto the owl's back with the grace of a Persian. Silver, after sparing one last glance at the sun, followed with a few long strides. Soon they were up high again, traveling quickly and silently.

They arrived at the Victory Road post by early night, where they were directed to a PokeCenter en route to Mount Silver. So they trekked for a few minutes longer, tired and windswept. Lyra didn't look at him once while they were walking. Silver wondered if he'd done something to annoy her. He didn't think he had. But he resolved to ask her about it tomorrow.

When they arrived at the nearly deserted Center, they wasted no time in getting rooms. The Nurse gave the exhausted pair a knowing glance, something that Silver was getting used to, and slyly asked them if they needed two rooms.

Lyra exploded at the lady. "Yes, we need two rooms!" she yelled, disturbing the lone trainer dozing the corner. "By Arceus, lady! Do we _look_ like we're dating?"

Silver didn't bother telling Lyra that they probably did. Instead he said smoothly, "Yeah, two rooms would be great. And ignore her. She's kind of… hysterical. She's really tired."

The Nurse nodded, still with that knowing gleam in her eye. She handed them two keys and the pair went off, separating as Silver pressed a key into Lyra's hand.

Lyra went to her room, throwing a quick "G'night" over her shoulder to the redhead. He returned it, muttering it really, before going to his room and going inside. He released his Pokemon, and to his dismay, Alakazam immediately whipped out a deck of cards and the six of them commenced yet another heated game of... no, it wasn't poker this time, but blackjack.

Silver didn't interrupt. There was no point, really. His Pokemon were about as stubborn as they came.

He spent a few minutes simply organizing the room to his taste - which basically meant throwing his stuff on the bed and collapsing on it for a while - before it occurred to him that the building was... shaking? _More like trembling_. He got up and poked his head out. Yes, the room was definitely shaking. He stepped out, intending to ask the Nurse what was going on.

Evidently Lyra had noticed it too - she almost ran into him as he passed her room on the way down. Her hair was down, the long, brown silkiness shining in all its glory, complimenting her shining eyes perfectly.

Silver blinked. He wondered when he'd gotten so flowery.

"Hey, Silver." That jolted him out of his thoughts, and Lyra continued, "I'm not imagining it, right?" she asked him. They both knew he'd know exactly what she was talking about.

"Let's go ask," he replied. They fell into step, side-by-side, and went down the stairs. They found the situation peaceful. The Nurse was at her desk, filling out words on a small crossword book, and the lone trainer on the side was dozing again.

"What's going on?" Lyra asked the Nurse.

The Nurse looked up, plainly startled. "What?" Then she realized what they meant. "Oh, the shaking?" She smiled. "That would be from the Onix. They like to tunnel around, you know, that kind of thing. Don't worry, they'll never hurt us."

Silver wasn't so sure, but Lyra thanked her anyway and the pair set off, back to their rooms. The walk was spent in silence, and Silver wondered again if Lyra was mad at him. Would he have to apologize? It had been one thing to apologize to his Pokemon, all those months ago for mistreating them, but to Lyra? That was just strange.

Lyra entered her room and slammed her door after her. Moments later he could faintly hear her cursing. No, she was cursing _something_. Someone? Silver chose not to ponder this further and just went to his room.

His Pokemon were all jittery, from the shaking and their master's sudden disappearance, and Silver quickly and quietly calmed them down. He had just finished doing this when he heard a loud _crash_ from the neighboring room; Lyra's.

Without even realizing it he was on alert, standing erect, eyes narrowed, ears listening for any sound. His Pokemon noticed it too, and they became cautious.

_I'd better go check up on her_. He was just opening his door when he thought to himself, _No, wait, there's no reason to go. She'll be fine. Because she's Lyra. So_...

Still, he found his feet had a mind of their own, and they were making a beeline for Lyra's room. _So much for that_. He rationalized the decision by telling himself that he just wanted to make sure he didn't have to pay for anything. Yes. That was it exactly. He just didn't want to pay for anything, is all. He'd charge the money to her if she'd broken something.

The door was unlocked; inside was a rather ruffled-looking Lyra, staring down at a lamp. The bulb had gone out, and the pretty glass frame had shattered to pieces.

Silver's eyes zeroed in on a cut on her thigh. Lovely. She just _had_ to go injure herself. With a sigh he asked her, "Are you okay?" while stepping into the room.

She seemed to snap out of a trance and shifted her wide-eyed gaze to him. Silver looked for a second before tearing his eyes away. He felt like he was drowning in those chocolate irises... "Y-yeah," she said shakily. Her voice became shakier as the tremor in the building suddenly increased. Silver closed the door behind him while Lyra finished, "I'm fine."

Silver quickly assessed the situation. The room was largely unmarked, minus the lamp. Lyra was mostly uninjured, and since her Pokemon were still - surprisingly enough - in their Pokeballs, they would be fine. He deduced that it would be all right to leave, all the while berating himself for even bothering to come. There had been no point in the first place, really.

His hand was on the doorknob when Lyra called out, "Wait."

He complied, a little puzzled. He sincerely hoped she wasn't going to apologize to him; after all, Silver had thought he'd been the one who'd annoyed Lyra. If she did, then he wouldn't even know what he'd done wrong, and that would be a heavy weight on his mind.

_A heavy weight?_ Would something petty like that actually bother him? Silver didn't ponder it longer than he had too, returning his attention to the current situation.

"Can I... tell you something?"

_You tell me things all the time_. He wondered why she asked for permission now, instead of the first time she'd met him, m_et him_ meaning actually sitting him down and talking to him. Now _that_ had not been a pleasant experience. "Go ahead," he said.

It was a miracle he could keep his speech straight with all these jumbled thoughts in his ever-churning mind.

"Okay." She paused. Silver tapped his foot impatiently, after a few moments of complete silence (minus the tremor, of course). Then she opened her mouth and the words tumbled out like a waterfall.

"I like you."

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><p><strong>*long stretch* Whee, that took a while... well, a surprise ending, I guess. Next chapter will probably have a little more action, possibly more romance. Oh, yes, and please don't hesitate to tell me that I fail at romance. Because I do. Anyhoo, thanks for reading and please review! <strong>


	5. Day 5: In Which a Lot of Things Happen

**Day 5, and now I'm afraid I'm _really _gonna mess it up, after what Lyra just said in the last chapter… :S**

**Notes: we get lots of action and some romance in this chapter. Did I mention I fail at romance? I've never even been in a relationship, so most of this stuff comes from books I read. We'll see how it goes.**

Metal Tiger Star**: Hyperness and pessimism are not the greatest mix… I can't imagine what you're like when you're actually **_**angry**_**. Well, I won't ask questions (though I am curious). HOORAY FOR HYPERNESS! *fist pump***

DancyBella**: Hello, fellow writer/reader! I'm quite pleased that people like this, because it's the birthchild of mild writer's block, so I didn't expect for me to suddenly put in all this time into it… well. Anyway, nice to meet you!**

Sapphiet**: I find it amusing that you just put all your thoughts down in order. And, surprisingly enough, I could recognize when you were commenting on it (guess I know my story better than I thought…) I'm just glad it wasn't too confusing in the end (key word: too).**

Ninja of Night**: Nah, I don't care. It's nice to know some people actually take the time to post stuff, anyway. You still get that supportive feeling, after all :) Yeah, the ending seems rushed because I didn't start a new paragraph when Lyra confesses (I look back and wince). Why does everyone like the poker part? I didn't even think people would pay attention to that! Oh, well, it's fine anyway. And Silver's so good because I'm horribly terrible at it and I want to write about someone who's amazing at it. Silver seemed to be the obvious candidate.**

togekiazu**: "Sort of" cute? I should be trying harder, then, I guess. Ooh, you're not a SoulSilverShipper? How sad. I hope I can convert you! And naturally I shall continue this, right up until the last day of the week… which would be day 7.**

pokefan113**: Uhhhh… I appreciate the support and all, but I don't… really get it. Good for you, I guess…**

MewBladeXxX**: Funnily enough, you reviewed almost right after I posted this. So I quickly made a change and put you in here too :) Hopes it works out all right. Long chapters take so, so long to write... but it is fun, which is what's important, I suppose. Thanks for the support!**

**And now, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: the disclaimer has been disclaimed, and then disclaimed again. And possibly again. And, yes, maybe again.**

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><p>For a very long moment Silver's ears were ringing. He was only half-aware of the blood rushing to his face as he and Lyra stared at each other. He wasn't the only one; Lyra was blushing madly, curling and uncurling her fingers behind her back, where Silver wouldn't see.<p>

Then Silver came to his senses. He looked down and scuffed the rug beneath him with one foot, thoughts going at a million miles per hour. What was he supposed to say to something like _that_? Lyra was the last person he expected to voice those words (although, in retrospect, she was probably the last _and_ only person he could have expected a confession to come from). And he had honestly not been prepared for this. He had prepared himself for plenty of other things – flying tackles, being jumped in alleys, even diving off a cliff – but definitely not this.

How was he supposed to respond? He didn't like her, after all.

As soon as he thought this, though, he knew it was a lie. Now that she had said it, he knew the feeling was mutual. He really couldn't lie to himself any longer, no matter how much he wanted to.

But he wasn't exactly choice material in a… boyfriend (he had to force himself to think that word). But he'd probably go mad with jealousy if Lyra _did_ starting going out with anyone else.

Silver realized what he'd thought and backtracked. He'd go mad with jealous_y_? _I guess I've liked her for a lot longer than I thought_, he reflected.

He started when Lyra stepped up more closely to him. "I know it's sudden," she was saying, so quickly the words tumbled over each other, and Silver looked up. At his silver gaze she blushed harder, if that were possible, but she continued, tripping over the words. "And – and I'm not sure if you like me back, or something, but – if you could tell me if – if you – you know, if you don't or something, that would be – "

Silver hushed her by putting a finger to her lips. The touch sent electricity running up his arm, and he questioned where he had gotten the audacity to even dare to do what he just did. But there was a reason he'd quieted her. The trembling in the building had become full-out shaking. It was like an Earthquake attack, almost.

"This can't be good," Silver muttered, removing his finger from Lyra's mouth and wincing as a chair toppled over. He knew he was stalling for time, partly because he was embarrassed and partly because he didn't know how to respond to her. It was just…weird, to be dating his rival. She was the Champion, for Arceus' sake.

_I wonder how she avoids all the paparazzi_.

He blinked at the thought, wincing again as something landed on his foot; a paperweight, or something like one. _Really, Silver?_ he scolded himself. _At a time like this, you wonder how she avoids all the paparazzi?_ Though it was a valid question.

And that brought up another point. Upon discovery of their relationship – if they had one by then – it would be all over the tabloids and magazines and maybe even the Johto and possibly Kanto TV news. Silver hated being on TV. What if they interviewed him?

_That's the least of my concerns_, Silver told himself angrily. And anyway, people already speculated. He forced himself to focus on the situation at hand.

Suddenly the building gave one huge, violent shake. Both of the humans lost their footing, and the furniture began to slide towards the left.

"I think we have to get out of here," Lyra said calmly, despite the fact she was scrabbling for a grip so she could stand. Silver noticed her hat had fallen off and was joining the other furniture as it slid. _Focus_, he told himself. He was quicker to get up; he grabbed her hand, yanked her to her feet, and together to two went for the door and exited the room as fast as possible.

They bolted down the hallway, still hand-in-hand, as the building began to buck and careen on itself. Silver almost fell down the stairs, but Lyra was able to keep her balance. Due to the fact they were still holding hands he managed to stay upright, and with a nod of thanks from Silver they hurtled down to the lobby.

The Nurse was pounding on the glass doors, trying to get out, while the other lone trainer, hood drawn and hand in his pocket, was softly stroking on the feathers of a beautiful Pidgeot. Silver wondered why he had the Pokemon out; at this point, it was safer for all of them to be in their balls. And then he wondered why he wasn't doing anything to help.

"The door's stuck!" the Nurse shouted to Silver and Lyra once she saw them.

"Smash the glass, then!" Lyra yelled back, directed at the other trainer.

Silver instinctively reached for his PokeBalls, but then realized with a sickening feeling they were still back in his room. His _Pokemon_ were still back in his room. Lyra noticed his sudden fear easily. Silver didn't even need to tell her; he knew his expression said enough when Lyra looked over, chocolate eyes wide.

Lyra shoved a Pokeball into his palm from her waist, releasing his hand and forcing him to curl his fingers around it. "Take Meganium," she ordered. "I'll get everyone out. Go!"

He didn't need to be told twice. He darted back up the stars, back up to the unsteady upper landing, and sprinted to his room, releasing Lyra's Meganium as he did so. Half of the time he struggled to keep his balance, but he and the green Pokemon made it there much more quickly than he'd hoped.

He didn't even both trying to open the door. Meganium broke it down with a quick command from him, screeching loudly. Immediately his Sneasel and Typhlosion scrambled out, wide-eyed and whimpering in fear. Silver shooed them down the hall, sighing in relief as Alakazam exited with all six Pokeballs floating around him. Silver grabbed them all, putting them in his pocket, and returned Alakazam and Meganium to their balls. He could do the rest of them later. He counted heads until he saw his Gengar float out, following by a hysterical Honchkrow and an eerily calm Magneton.

_Well, Magneton's always eerily calm._ It was a good thing, sometimes. But it was freaky in most cases.

He pushed his Honchkrow into the air, and it flapped away, following Typhlosion's wake. He heard a loud crack, but he paid it no heed; the building had been creaking all night, after all. It was only instincts that saved him in the end. Somehow, he dove and rolled out of the way as a part of the ceiling crashed down right where he'd been seconds before. He stifled a hysterical laugh as it rose in his throat and got up, thinking _I could've died, that could've killed me_ over and over again as he rushed to get to the stairs, his heart thumping crazily and his breath coming out in short gasps.

He reached the lobby seconds later in a dead sprint, finding glass shards haphazardly around the room. Everything was deserted; everyone had gotten out. Praying to Arceus that the ceiling wouldn't fall – the stupid part of his brain remarking, _strange, I've never actually prayed to Arceus before_ – he darted out the broken glass doors and into the night.

Once he did, he ran a good distance away when he heard the familiar girl's voice call out his name. It took all of his willpower to force his legs to turn, but once he did he hurried to the sound and found all five of his Pokemon safe and sound. Typhlosion was keeping them all warm as they huddled around Lyra, but that thought barely penetrated Silver's numb brain. Magneton was floating a little ways away, doing nothing but keeping its three eyes on the collapsing PokeCenter. Silver didn't even feel amused that Gengar was a little shook up by the incident, even though he was a Ghost-type and could go through walls.

"Meganium? And Alakazam?" she asked him, her voice revealing her fear for the worst. Silver robotically pulled out Meganium's ball from his pocket, giving it to her, before releasing Alakazam to join the rest of them. He was still unable to speak after brushing and just avoiding death.

The Nurse trotted to them and quickly counted heads. "Oh, good," she said, her voice heavy with relief, "Everyone is safe."

"What's going on?" Lyra asked her. As soon as she said this Sneasel struggled free from her lap and ran and leapt into Silver's arms, curling up there as Silver held him like a baby. Silver stroked Sneasel mechanically, but it was too scared to make notice of its own master's fear.

"I don't know," the Nurse admitted, placing both hands on her hips as she thought. Silver, through his numbed mind, wondered if she was cold; her attire, a pink dress that went to her knees, wasn't exactly suited for mountain weather. Then again, all the Nurses he'd seen wore the same thing. It was probably the national uniform. "The Onix are all riled up. It's strange. They've never attacked us before, even when Red was here."

The mention of the name immediately perked Lyra up. Silver struggled to recall who Red was, and he remembered - vaguely - when Lyra asked, "Red?" She rose to her feet and gave Typhlosion a reassuring pat as the ground shook violently for a few seconds. Silver had had no idea Red had gone to Mount Silver.

Once the tremor had stopped the Nurse nodded. "Yes, the boy who originally shut down Team Rocket, the one who was Champion once too. He was here for one night, and the night he stayed before climbing the Mount the Onix didn't even come near the building." She looked them over. "Maybe you being Champion and you being her, erm, _rival_ have something to do with it."

Silver processed this slowly, completely missing the emphasis the Nurse had placed on _rival_, and decided the Nurse was wrong; he and Lyra hadn't really done much here in the first place. His tongue wouldn't listen to him, though, so in the end it was Lyra who spoke. "If it is our fault, we're sorry," she told the Nurse. "We'll leave as soon as it gets light out."

The Nurse shook her head. "It's not your fault, but we have to be careful from now on – " She grappled onto a tree as the ground shook again, and then continued as it lessened, "Something must've bothered the Onix to the point that they're tunneling away." She paused, then murmured, "I wonder…"

She didn't finish the sentence. Instead, she jogged over to where the other trainer sat in seclusion just out of view, his Pidgeot preening itself next to him. And so she left Silver and Lyra alone with his Pokemon.

Silver returned his Pokemon to their Pokeballs without talking. The thought of death kept circulating in his head, and his mind was having a hard time processing anything else now that he had nothing to distract him.

As soon as Silver had finished the task and straightened up from petting to his Sneasel, Lyra looked up and walked over to him. Silver turned to find Lyra a mere foot away from him. He didn't start, but he felt like his heart was jumping out of his chest when he met her brown eyes, soft and gentle and kind all at the same time. It was a miracle she couldn't hear it pound, actually.

They both didn't move for quite a bit. He knew that he could've been separated from her so easily just a few minutes before, and the thought was extremely painful. No matter what he told himself, he'd known for so long that he loved her, and he wanted her to know. So he reached out and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. It was then he realized her hair was down, not in its normal pigtails, and inside he realized he liked it a _lot_ better when the hat was off. He'd have to tell her that later.

Doing this snapped his brain back to reality. He was alive, Lyra was alive, their Pokemon were alive. That was all that mattered in the end.

His hand lingered on her face, and her delicate one rose to cover it. She gave him a small smile, one that melted some of the ice around his heart. No, one that melted the last of the ice around his heart. She had been chipping away at it ever since he'd first met her.

But he still wasn't prepared when she got up on her tiptoes and kissed him, her hand leaving his to grip his black coat, her eyes closing softly.

It was like someone had lit a fire inside. Not the bad kind, one that roared and made his vision go red (that was when he was angry, of course), but one that warmed him up from the inside out, even as electricity from the gentle touch coursed through his body. In all his years he had never been interested in a female; the closest he'd gotten was the disgust he'd had for Lyra, who had been happy and caring from day one. And that had slowly gone from interest to curiosity, and from there, grudging respect to true respect, and finally, finally, he had fallen in love with her. Without him even knowing it.

Tentatively his arms encircled her waist, deepening the kiss ever so slightly, closing his eyes. It was… for once, his brain lacked an adjective. He could barely think straight already, and now he didn't want to. This, for now, was good enough for him.

Lyra was the one who broke off the kiss, and they stood there, panting just a little bit, brown eyes meeting silver, his arms around her waist and hers pressed flat against his chest, and both blushing as red as his hair. Never had Silver imagined he'd be in such a pose, but now he knew that he liked it, especially when it was Lyra he was holding.

Silver, without a second thought, tightened his grip on the girl, and Lyra found herself gripping him just as fiercely.

"I almost died in there," he said softly. He didn't know why he said it, but for some reason, he felt she had to know.

He could feel her tense up, her face pressed against his shoulder. "You didn't, though," she said.

Silver bit back a sharp retort that was something along the lines of _obviously_ and instead said agreeably, "Luckily enough."

They lapsed into silence. Silver spotted the Nurse out of the corner of his eye. She was making her way to them, but she stopped a good distance away and turned around, not wanting to interrupt. Silver made a mental note to thank her later.

"We have to find out what's wrong with the Onix," Lyra told him quietly.

Silver wasn't sure if that would be the greatest idea, but seeing as they had been going to scale Mount Silver anyway, they might as well go see what the problem is. He nodded, knowing she could feel the motion, and they separated, getting all of their bearings in order.

They had no supplies, though. They'd have to be extremely careful this time around.

Upon finding the Nurse, who was talking quietly to the other trainer as he stroked his Pidgeot's feathers, the pair told her their plan. She was fingering the bird's murderous beak as Lyra finished, "So we'll go check it out and make sure everything's okay."

The Nurse nodded appreciatively, stroking the Pidgeot's head. The bird closed its eyes and cawed softly as the Nurse said gratefully, "Thank you. You really don't have to, but it seems you have your mind set on it. Before you leave, you better get some rest. I should have a few supplies for you once the Onix calm down a bit."

As if on cue, the PokeCenter completely folded in and collapsed on itself. Five pairs of eyes watched it do so, Silver's hand finding Lyra's without a thought. They exchanged a glance as the Nurse sighed unhappily, muttering something about how _she'd_ gotten the out-of-the-way Center, and _of course_ it had fallen to the ground, I mean it wasn't like she was a terrible Nurse, _seriously_…

The other trainer let out an exasperated noise and looked up into his Pokemon's eyes before turning to the pair. For the first time Silver saw his face. Intelligent emerald eyes were trained on him, and as the boy pulled back his hood Silver recognized the face immediately.

"Gary?" Lyra asked the boy, brown eyes wide, just before Silver voiced the name himself.

The cocky boy smirked at their shocked expressions. "Looks like I'm not the only one going up," he remarked casually. "Mind if I join you?"

_I'd rather not_. Upon exchanging looks with Lyra, Silver could tell she didn't want the obnoxious boy with them either. However, Silver was willing to bet that Gary was stronger than the last time they'd met, and he was fairly certain the Gym Leader would battle him to make him agree. So he shrugged, indicating that Lyra should decide.

She shot him a look that said _I hate you sometimes_ and turned to Gary. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

His smirk widened into a nasty smile. "Nope. Whether you like it or not, I'll be tagging along with you two lovebirds."

For their part, the pair didn't even blush. Lyra just rolled her eyes and Silver just gave the other boy a look. Gary was disappointed in the lack of embarrassing reactions. "You're no fun," he complained.

"Why are you going up Mount Silver, Gary?" Lyra asked him, deliberately changing the subject.

Gary immediately put on a serious expression. "I'm visiting Red, of course, among some other things," he said. Silver was about to ask about the other things when he continued, "He's my rival, but he's also my friend. The guy never gets enough to eat."

"What do you mean?"

Gary shot her a look that clearly said _Are you stupid?_ "He's never gone down from there, and it's been _four years_," he replied. "Me 'n and Leaf take turns feeding him. He manages on whatever he can find, but he does enjoy the occasional delicacy."

_Leaf…?_ Silver had never heard that name, and his expression must've told Gary so. "Leaf's our neighbor," the Gym Leader explained, "back in Pallet. She's a great trainer in her own right, too. She always challenges me and half of the time she wins."

Was that _pride_ in his voice? "She must be pretty important if she wins half of the time," Silver said, itching to see Gary's reaction.

When Gary smiled, it was a real smile, not one of those stupid smirks. "She is," he agreed. "She was the peacemaker back when Red and I were younger and constantly bickering. Or, I guess," Gary said thoughtfully, "I yelled at him and Red glared back. But anyway, the two of us can never convince Red to come back down in all these years."

Silver concluded that Gary had special feelings for this Leaf girl, and the way Lyra's eyes gleamed told him that she had figured it out as well.

"Do you think he has something to do with the Onix?" Lyra asked Gary, deciding not to press.

"That's the other reason I'm here," Gary admitted. Silver remembered then that not only was Gary a trainer, he was a researcher as well, being the son of the famed Professor Oak. "There's been lots of strange behavior of the Pokemon at Mount Silver lately. I wouldn't be surprised if Red was training so ferociously that he chased them all away."

The Nurse, having been forgotten in the conversation, butted in at this time. "You all need to rest," she ordered. "You can catch up later."

It was cold out, and with the thought of Lyra and the brush with death fresh in his mind, Silver doubted he could fall asleep at all. Still, the three obliged and found a grassy area to stay. Gary still had his supplies, and after returning Pidgeot to its ball he pulled out a blanket from his bag and was quickly asleep, using his arm as a pillow. Silver and Lyra weren't so lucky, especially when the Nurse scuttling back in forth, scavenging what she could from the building, and the ground occasionally shaking.

"Gary sleeps like a log," Lyra whispered after a few minutes of restlessness.

They were lying next to each other, curled up slightly to conserve warmth. Lyra was playing with Silver's ginger hair, and he had had eyes closed when she spoke.

"No kidding," Silver agreed. A violent shake shook them all, but Gary lay still, inhaling deeply and evenly; in other words, he was still asleep.

Somebody draped a blanket over them; they looked up to meet the Nurse's kind eyes. She nodded to them and scurried away, headed for the PokeCenter. Already the pile of what she'd scavenged was growing besides them.

As soon as the Nurse was out of earshot Lyra said softly, "I don't think I can sleep."

Silver didn't comment. Instead his hands took hers away from his hair. It was fine with him for her to touch it, yes, but he had a feeling she'd start braiding it if he fell asleep. His hair was long enough for a braid, after all. Lyra was an idiotic airhead, so he had still to be careful.

She commenced to finger one of his hands, completely oblivious to the fact that she was doing so. Silver didn't bother telling her. "It's strange."

Again, Silver didn't say anything, but the look he gave her told her to continue.

"A year ago, we hated each other's guts," she said. Silver knew it was true; it had taken a very long time for him to not stomp off in a huff when he saw her. "And now…"

She didn't bother finishing the sentence. Then she said briskly, "Have you ever been to Mount Silver?"

Silver nodded. "After going through Kanto, I was allowed to go there. I've been through most of it." He had a decent recollection of where everything was, and he also knew how to get to the top, where he had spied someone standing. He hadn't bothered talking to them, but now he knew it had been Red and he couldn't believe he'd missed a chance like that. He told this to Lyra as well.

She had a small, satisfied smile on her face. "Not to mention Gary's probably been up there a million times, so we can't get lost."

Silver nodded, and they fell into companionable silence. Eventually, Lyra's hands on his own ceased moving, and he knew she'd fallen asleep. _Her sleeping face is cute_, Silver thought as he looked up, and he felt relief; at last, he was free to think these thoughts. He had been getting tired of constantly pushing them out of his mind, not because it was just weird for him but also because it took a strain on his brain. It was hard not to think about things you're consciously trying _not_ think about.

_I almost died today_. Silver brushed the thought aside, but it persisted, back in the dark, dank corners of his conscious. He almost wished he could stab it, and that reminded him of the whole incident all over again.

He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up the next morning at dawn. Lyra was still holding his hand. It made him blush faintly, and he forced himself to sit up and look around through blearily blinking eyes, observing the situation around him.

Gary was stirring and muttering in his sleep, but the Nurse was utterly and completely conked out near a rather large pile of merchandise. He could see spray bottles and more spray bottles of Potions, Super Potions and Hyper Potions, as well as a jar of Max Repel here and there. Silver even saw a Max Revive from where he sat. His first instinct was to steal it for later, but he told himself it wasn't right. And besides, he couldn't tug his hand away from Lyra's viselike grip on his fingers.

Silver quickly grew bored. No one was up, he couldn't pull away from Lyra, and it was only dawn. He reached into his pocket and took out a Pokeball at random: Sneasel. He smiled as he let it out, where it stretched for a bit before scampering over to him. It looked a little worse-for-wear from the scare yesterday, but it was ready to fight.

The first thing Sneasel noticed was that its master's hand was in the marshmallow hat girl's. Silver's small smile widened; he loved how observant his Pokemon were. "It's a long story," he told the Pokemon softly. Sneasel gave its master a knowing look and padded over onto his blanketed lap, where it curled up. Silver absently scratched the Pokemon right behind its feather and watched the sun as it rose above the trees. He was calm and perfectly at peace in the quiet woods, with the sounds of a pond nearby.

Lyra awoke when Sneasel began to tap her hands with a clawed paw. He was being careful, but Silver knew from experience that those claws weren't exactly safe, no matter how careful the Pokemon was being. She yawned and sat up, and that was when she noticed where her hands were. She looked up to see Silver's amused gaze, blushed furiously and released it. Sneasel slowly got up from its position and stepped over to Lyra, its feather tickling her face.

"Bet you're wondering what happened while you in your Pokeball, huh," she told it softly. Sneasel let out a noise of assent. "Well, one day. We have things to do right now."

The pair got up. While Lyra folded the blanket Silver looked through the pile of stuff, looking for their bags. He found Lyra's buried under a pile of Dusk Balls, which she caught when he threw it to her, but it took him a very long time to find his. When he did he discovered that, miraculous, none of his stuff had fallen out. Except his wallet. He couldn't find his wallet.

He was about to tell Lyra this when Sneasel reached into his pocket and pulled it out. Silver thanked his Pokemon, remembering that he had hid it in his coat pocket after he'd seen his Pokemon gamble. Lyra laughed at this, and that was when Silver noticed her hair was still down. Naturally; her hat was lost in the collapsed Poke Center. But she still hadn't put it in pigtails, to his pleasure. He'd tell her later, when they were alone.

He shivered. _When we're alone_. What a strange thought to have when just yesterday…

The noise woke the Nurse up, even though she had been sleeping so deeply she was snoring, and soon enough they were being handed more supplies they could hold. Their protests that they couldn't hold more woke Gary up, in turn, and the Nurse turned to him and offered a Full Heal. Gary refused it with a quick "Thanks, but no thanks" and packed his blanket away.

"Hungry?" he asked Silver and Lyra, offering them a granola bar. Silver shrugged and took it; he didn't know when he'd get food again. Lyra took it and put it in her pocket for later. Gary shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said. "I have extra food besides the stuff for Red, so if you're hungry you can ask me."

Ask Gary for food? Now that was just plain weird. Evidently Lyra thought the same thing.

Gary looked down at Silver's Sneasel as it came up to him, staring at the human with narrowed, distrustful eyes. "Why haven't you evolved it into a Weavile?" he asked Silver. Silver knew he didn't mean it as a rude question, but he wasn't entirely sure if his Sneasel would take it that way.

Sure enough the Sneasel hissed and sprang back to Silver, somehow leaping up on his shoulder and staying there. Silver calmed it down by stroking its lithe, black body. "It doesn't want to," Silver explained. "I offered it a Razor Claw and to train at night, but it refused."

Gary's brow furrowed. "Wouldn't it be stronger if it evolved?"

It was an innocent question, but it caused Sneasel to hiss again. Lyra took over in the calming, gently removing the Pokemon from Silver's shoulders and managing by some miracle not to tear his coat. "Yes," Silver admitted uneasily. "But Sneasel doesn't want to."

Gary shrugged, saying, "Whatever floats your boat." Then his attention went elsewhere, his eyes being drawn to the very top of the mountain, hidden in clouds. "Shall we go?" he asked the pair with a small mock-bow.

"Yeah," Lyra said warily, holding Sneasel in one arm and scratching behind its feather with the other. Silver took the Pokemon from her, whispered in its ear to behave, and set it on the ground. Sneasel listened, but it didn't stop shooting distrustful glances Gary's way.

They reached the mouth of the cave by the time the sun had risen all the way. "You know your way around?" Gary asked the pair, not even bothering to turn around.

"Mostly," Silver replied. Lyra said nothing. "Enough that I won't get completely lost."

"Fine. You're on your own, then. There's a part of the cave I need to check out for Gramps' research. I'll join you at the top later."

"I thought we needed to check out the entire cave, not just go straight to the top," Lyra interjected. Silver nodded in agreement, not that Gary could see. "And you said you'd join us, didn't you?"

"There are reasons - note the _s_ - I'm here, you know. I'll check out the cave, you go see if Red knows anything. Even better; take his food there for me. Tell him I sent it." Silver barely caught the smaller bag thrust at him. "Smell ya later, you two." And with that, Gary vanished inside the cave.

The pair stared after him, not quite sure what to think. Eventually Silver slid the food bag into his own and said, "We should probably go."

Lyra said, "We should've at least gotten his PokeGear number. Then we could call him if anything came up."

"Too late now."

"True."

And they walked in, the dark dankness of the cave enveloping them like a blanket.

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><p><strong>Oh gawd, romance scenes take a lot out of a person. And I put in Gary... is that good or bad? I really need feedback this time around, so please, please, please review!<strong>


	6. Day 6: General Business at Mount Silver

**This is sort of Day 5, mostly Day 6 – so… yeah. I am so, so sorry for the delay. Things have been rough lately…**

**Anyway, thanks to these lovely people for reviewing (there are a _lot_ this time around. I have 39 reviews… for five chapters. *cries tears of joy*)…**

MewBladeXxX**: Ah, but you're forgetting that we're in the **_**game**_**, not the manga. Except Leaf isn't actually **_**in**_** the game, but whatever. I'm glad you approve of the romance part. I have successfully converted you? YAY!**

Meta-Akira**: You… you do? That makes me so happy… *sniff* I'm so happy to know you like this. My self-esteem has gone up a little notch. Oh, and welcome aboard, since I've never seen you around before!**

The M.H.T. of R.**: Awesome pen name you got there – I looked up the meaning on your profile. Uh no, cringe errors… There won't be any sex. I'm not much for that. Did I really mention eyes that much? (goes back to check) Oh… uh… well… never mind.**

togekiazu**: Yay, I have successfully converted you as well! I feel so accomplished. If I make a sequel, it would be hard to figure out what to write about. Especially since I'm not into those romance dramas. Which… seems likely, Silver being Silver…**

Sapphiet**: Crobat's freaking out because everyone else is freaking out, and also because the whole building is, well, collapsing – in answer to your question :) I see you have a lot of fun guessing and commenting. I want to try that now.**

Ninja of Night**: Isn't it exciting? And isn't Gary amazing? You are very welcome!**

gunmetal-gryphon**: You sound so accomplished. It makes me envious. And now I see what I've been doing right ^^ and that makes me happy. Thank you so much!**

Metal Tiger Star**: Spiders? I know exactly what you're talking about. Someone in my family would always freak out when there's a spider (or any bug, for that matter) in the room. I couldn't bear to kill them so I always let them go outside…**

theleonhearted**: Ehe… I try hard. Thank you!**

saraerose**: I personally love how you picked out all of my best lines and then commented on them. I… I guess I really am witty sometimes. *cries again* Thanks for the many reviews!**

TurquoiseShine**: short and terse, I see. Well, I'll do my best not to disappoint. Thanks for the review!**

pokefan113**: No problem, no problem. I've always thought of Gary as an older brother sort of person; he's mean, but in a supporting sort of way, you know? Thanks for the continued support!**

**Also, there's been some general hubbub about how Gary and Leaf have their in-game names, so I'll address that directly… This is because I'm taking the HeartGold/SoulSilver universe (as I said in chapter 1)… where Red is, for some reason, called Red, and everyone else besides Silver is their other weird name. So. Apologies for any confusion. **

**Do I own Pokemon? Of course not. Otherwise there would be some drastic changes, believe me.**

* * *

><p>It turned out that there were a lot more Pokemon in the cave than Silver had encountered last time.<p>

Or at least, they were all gathered near the entrance. After he and Lyra had taken only a few paces in an Ursaring suddenly charged them out of nowhere. Fortunately, Sneasel was on guard and managed to distract it with a painful Metal Claw to its muzzle, blood spattering in the direction of the slash. Then Silver took over and finished it off with Sneasel, leaving the unconscious bear lying on the floor and bleeding slightly from its wounds.

"I think I'll have Meganium walk behind me," Lyra said nervously. Silver remembered that she had stopped walking with her Pokemon after Professor Elm worried that the paparazzi would scare them. Bright flashes, he had explained, weren't exactly beneficial to a Pokemon's health.

Silver realized he ought to reply, and so he picked the wittiest line he could think of, which just happened to be "Good idea."

After an hour of battling on and off, Silver realized they probably weren't going to get anywhere fast. All the Pokemon in the cave were terrified and twitchy; one wrong step and suddenly hordes of Golbats would be upon them, one wrong noise and an Onix would appear and try to Wrap them, one wrong motion and an Ursaring would suddenly appear and Slash clumsily at them. Eventually the pair changed the plan. The goal for this day was to get maybe halfway up, camp, and then continue the rest of the way up the next day.

It wasn't exactly what he'd originally hoped – in, out, and then whatever – but it was something to do. _And _he was with Lyra, and that made everything two times better.

They took turns leading, partly because Lyra would get them a little lost and Silver would have to get them back on track, and also because Pokemon always seemed to attack them from the front. Silver would switch when he was tired with that, and then he'd switch back when they got lost. It wasn't a very efficient system, but Silver couldn't be bothered to think of a better one.

Once, when Silver was leading with Sneasel at his side, another Sneasel jumped forward. Silver wasn't really surprised – Sneasel were pretty common, after all – but when he commanded his own to attack it, the Pokemon hesitated. The other Sneasel didn't seem keen on attacking either.

"Maybe it's a female," Lyra suggested, not daring to risk startling the Pokemon by appearing from behind the redhead. It was already pointless, seeing as her Meganium was peering around the two curiously, but she wasn't willing to take her chances.

Silver stared hard at the other Sneasel. He had never been able to distinguish males from females, but it was worth a shot. Kind of. Maybe. Well, all right, he just wanted to see if he could.

Eventually, the wild Sneasel turned and scampered away. Silver's Pokemon stared after it with almost longing in its eyes; but after a few moments it was back to its normal self, bounding ahead and waiting impatiently for the slow humans and sole Pokemon to catch up. "_That_ was weird," Lyra commented afterward.

Silver nodded in agreement, giving his Pokemon a look that said the same thing. His Sneasel chattered at him and turned its back.

Other than that, none of the fights really stood out. Eventually Silver had to switch out Sneasel and sent out his Alakazam instead, and they had to take multiple breaks from the constantly sloping terrain, but other than that the journey was… boring, almost. The Pokemon were, to Silver's visible disappointment, not as strong as he'd hoped. And Lyra was being herself, and that meant constant, annoying, bubbling chatter. It was slightly muted due to the fear or startling Pokemon, but it was there. And it was irritating.

Even though he loved her, she still bothered him to no end. He'd have one hell of a migraine by the time the day was over.

By afternoon-ish – according to Lyra's Pokegear, anyway – he was feeling hungry. He had food with him, of course, but he was curious about Lyra. She hadn't eaten the granola bar Gary had given her for breakfast; how on earth did she keep up like that? She'd always been on the thinner side, but he'd never really thought about why.

Or how.

He wondered if she was hungry. The question was answered when she told him, "Can we stop? I'm starving."

"Literally, I'm sure," he replied. Lyra frowned, and Silver understood that she didn't get it. He barely restrained a laugh as they went off to the side a bit. Silver just sat down on the cold rocks, but Lyra shifted through her bag, somehow came up with a blanket, and sat down on that. When she pulled out a lunchbox, Silver didn't think much of it – until he saw just how much dry goods she had in there. Chips and trail mix and crackers and uncooked pasta and granola and – his eyes fell upon the ramen. He wasn't particularly fond of the flavored noodles, but it was cheap. And it didn't taste horrible.

"What?" Lyra asked him, seeing him examine the lunchbox.

"… Nothing." _Just completely _strange_ is what_, he thought to himself, settling against the ground more comfortably and fishing through his own bag. While she began to devour a packet of crackers, he munched slowly on an apple. He didn't need that much sustenance, having grown up with a not-so-wonderful childhood. But he reminded himself he was climbing up a mountain, and he'd have to eat more than usual. So he ate two apples instead, feeding half of one to his Alakazam, who ate it in dainty, though tiny, bites.

With the eating break done the pair trekked on. The higher they went, the fewer Pokemon. Eventually, Lyra got confident enough that she was talking at her normal tone when she was behind him and looking over her shoulder and talking when she was in front. Silver stayed on guard, prepared to catch her if she tripped on the sloping ground, but by some miracle she stayed upright. Half of the time _he_ was stumbling, and he was looking down at his feet, and yet she stayed _upright_ while talking over her shoulder. It really wasn't fair.

She probably had the ability because she was a klutz otherwise, Silver reflected. He didn't dare mention this to Lyra. She's probably punch him, and then he'd go rolling and rolling all the way back down. Silver scowled, wishing that he could use Honchkrow to Fly up. But the air was awfully thin, and it would be hard for the bird to gain altitude. So really, he had no choice but to walk up with the marshmallow hat girl. But then he remembered her hat was lost in the collapsed building. So maybe it wasn't so bad, since she now looked more attractive than before.

That didn't mean he had to like the trek, though.

"Would you just - " he began when Lyra paused for a breath. Then she talked right over his words, as she normally did when she didn't notice he was going to talk.

"Lyra, can you - " he tried again a few minutes later when Lyra took a second to step over a particularly large rock. She resumed talking almost right away, and so Silver shut his mouth, his scowl deepening.

"Could you - hey - Lyra - " Fed up as she continued, he screamed, "_Shut the hell up!_"

She look back at him, eyes wide, and shut her mouth. "Thank you," he said gratefully.

Then she smacked him on the head.

"What have I told you about swearing?" she asked him condescendingly.

Silver rolled his eyes, earning him another smack, and said, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I shouldn't swear." The tone earned him yet another smack as he continued, "But really, what choice did I have? You wouldn't stop talking."

She paused and blinked. "I was talking?"

Silver gave her a glare that could've peeled paint when he saw the baffled look she had on her face. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from muttering curses when she laughed. "I'm just kidding. I'm sorry. I talk when I'm nervous."

"You talk when no one else is talking," Silver corrected.

Lyra frowned, but agreed, "Yeah, I guess."

After that, conversation was brief. They were tromping along in complete silence when, according to Lyra's PokeGear, it was six o'clock at night or so. Dinner.

With her Ninetails, they managed to boil some water from Lyra's water bottle and make two cartons of the ramen she had brought. It was a decent dinner, considering they were in a mountain, and Silver was grateful. After that, there was more climbing, and even though no Pokemon were attacking them, the pace was much slower. They barely got anywhere by the time another hour flew by and Lyra decided it was time to sleep. So they explored a little ways, trying to find a flat(er) spot.

Silver was fairly certain their fifteen-minute search was in vain until they had stumbled across a completely flat space, big enough to house their Pokemon as well as themselves as they slept. Silver released all of his Pokemon, since half of them didn't sleep at night, while Lyra returned hers; his own would be performing guard duty for the night. Not that one could really tell it was night, seeing as it was a cave, but Silver didn't feel like arguing with himself. He removed his compact sleeping bag and spread it out, snuggling inside it.

_Another night sleeping on solid rock_, Silver reflected, feeling a sharp point dig into his back. He shifted positions, thinking. He'd gotten soft as the years had gone by, he knew. When his father had left him alone all those years ago, he'd slept in the streets almost every night. But now, as he aged, he'd gotten used to the luxury known as beds. Silver was fairly certain that if he had to pick one thing to bring anywhere, it would be a bed. After his Pokemon, they were probably one of the only things he absolutely loved – and yes, that was _loved_.

Lyra settled down next to him, and he watched her out of the corner of his eye, folding his arms behind his head and using his hands as a sort of makeshift pillow. It was uncomfortable and within minutes his hands had no feeling in them, but it was better than nothing.

After a moment Lyra asked him softly, "How can you sleep?"

"I can't," Silver replied honestly, shifting his position yet again when a rock bit into his leg. "I'll probably get a few hours in at most, when I'm exhausted."

"I'm not even going to try," Lyra decided, inching into her sleeping bag yet still remaining in an upright position.

"You should," Silver said offhandedly. She looked at him as he continued, "We're going to be climbing tomorrow, in case you've forgotten."

She stuck her tongue at him, and Silver fought the urge to chuckle and won, barely. She really did look a lot better when her hair down, without the hat. He'd tell her later.

Silver stopped. He'd been telling himself that for a while now. Then he brushed it aside. He would tell her later, when he could get it in at the right time.

"I hate caves," Lyra muttered after a while, flopping onto the ground. Silver half-expected to hear her head crack on the solid rock they lay upon, but then he noticed she had a pillow. Figures. Lyra was almost always prepared.

Silver didn't reply. After a moment she mumbled, "And I hate the dark."

Silver didn't hate the dark. He didn't mind it so much as long as he could still see, and besides, he always had his Pokemon to help him if he couldn't. He couldn't sleep without complete darkness, anyway.

He didn't even think about it when he asked, "Why?"

She stiffened, and Silver wondered if he'd asked the wrong question. Then she relaxed and murmured, "I had an… experience, when I was younger."

At this Silver turned his head in her direction, prodding her to go on. She swiftly looked sideways at him, met his eyes, and looked back up again, her pale cheeks coloring as her breath puffed clouds into the air. "You'll laugh at me."

"I always laugh at you," Silver said automatically. He smirked at her when she shot him a glare.

"I suppose." Silver waited for her to speak. When she did, she was right; he burst out laughing when she finished. "When I was little, I went walking through the tall grass late one night. A Sentret jumped out of a tree and landed right on my head. I thought it was a Weedle, and then I ran home screaming with it still on clinging on for dear life."

He was still laughing when she sat up and smacked his chest smartly with the back of her hand. "Stop it! It's not that funny!"

Silver regained his composure, looked at her – and cracked up again. Lyra sighed and waited for him to calm down again.

"No wonder you don't train Sentrets," he gasped, wiping his eyes. He had no idea why he found it so funny until he looked at her again. Lyra had always been, to him, fearless and strong. He hadn't even discovered she was afraid of the dark until she had gone through Kanto and found him wandering around Indigo Plateau later. That's when they'd gone 'spelunking' in Dark Cave, which had had... _mixed results_ at best..

Lyra sighed again and lay back down, curling up into a ball. "It's not that I don't like them," she grumbled. "It's just that one Sentret kept on scaring me, later on. It thought it was funny when I screamed. It still does it sometimes."

Silver wondered what Lyra's scream sounded like. The one she did in fear, that is. He'd already heard her scream at him. "Wish I could meet it," he said instead, keeping the comment neutral. Kind of. It was still an insulting barb aimed at her, but the whole thing was just so un-Lyra-like that he had to rub it in her face.

Lyra grunted, and Silver was worried; had he gone too far? He looked over at her, meeting her eyes. No, he hadn't, according to that malicious smile on her face. He got a very bad feeling in his gut as soon as Lyra opened her mouth. "Okay, you know what I'm afraid of," she said, propping her head on her elbow, that smile still plastered on her face. "So, what are you afraid of?"

For a moment Silver thought _Giovanni_. Then he realized he wasn't afraid of his father anymore. He could hardly scratch Silver at this point. No, what he was afraid of meant delving more deeply into his mind. In fact, hadn't he already told her what he was afraid of, a few days ago when they'd been near the water's edge, talking about the very same Giovanni?

"Losing," he said at last. Then he added, "Losing - "

"That's it? But you lose all the time!" Silver winced at the comment and Lyra quickly backtracked. "I mean, against me. How can you be afraid of losing - "

"I'm afraid of losing you," he interrupted. Then he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. Oh, Arceus, he hadn't actually said that, had he? But Lyra's expression told him he had. How embarrassing…

He rolled over, not wanting to let her see his face. Only a few hours to go until the day was over. How worse could it get in that time? Silver regretted thinking that immediately. He always seemed to jinx things.

"Silver," she said. He stiffened; that was her I'm-not-going-to-hurt-you voice, the one she often used with wild Pokemon. "Look at me."

Silver wondered what clouded his judgment when he rolled over again to meet her eyes. Fortunately his face had regained its normal skin tone, and to his surprise he saw that now Lyra was blushing.

Women. They were too damn complicated.

"Is that true?"

Silver almost snorted, but it didn't seem to fit the moment. "I don't lie, you know."

Lyra raised both eyebrows at that. Silver shook his head with an exaggerated sigh. "I really haven't lied to you," he said. He added, "Not out loud, anyway."

"You kept secrets from me," she pointed out.

"I still do. And so do you," he replied. She pouted as he continued, "Everyone deserves their own privacy."

"Yes," she admitted. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

They lapsed into temporary silence. Silver's Sneasel took the opportunity to drift over and chatter at him. He'd gotten to know his Pokemon well enough to mostly understand what they wanted. "Go ahead," he said to it. His Sneasel grinned and scampered off into the darkness. "Be back in a few hours," he called after it. He was answered by a squeak of assent.

"I didn't know Sneasels could squeak," Lyra commented, an amused look on her face as Silver turned his head to face her.

"Most can't."

After a moment or two of listening to Silver's Pokemon talk amongst themselves Lyra told him, sitting up completely, "You're always full of surprises."

Silver raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Isn't everybody?"

"Yes, but… when I first met you, your Pokemon…"

"Obeyed me out of fear, yes," Silver said. He'd gotten over that now, ever since he'd sat down with his Pokemon and actually communicated with them about it. "They don't now."

"I can see that. But still. You understood exactly what your Sneasel was… I don't know, saying?"

"It's very easy to read, actually," Silver told her, settling back more comfortably in his sleeping bag. "I was surprised once I found out. I couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out sooner."

"What do you mean, it's easy to read?"

Silver went on to give her a detailed explanation of the ice-and-dark type's mannerisms, from hand movement to a twitch of its feather. Once he'd finished, Lyra told him about her Meganium's, and then they went back and forth with all twelve of their combined Pokemon. In the end, they were sitting up, facing each other, copying their Pokemon's movements as they described them. It was especially amusing to Silver when Lyra imitated her Noctowl's wing flapping. For someone without even a single feather, she did a surprisingly good job.

With that finished, Silver decided it was high time to get to sleep. He snuggled back up into his sleeping bag, reveling in its warmth; that store clerk hadn't been kidding when he'd told Silver that the new Swanna down used in it would keep him 'toasty warm.' He'd been a little uncertain, since he'd been using Pidgeot down before, but now he saw he was wrong.

He heard Lyra copy his movements, and he soon became drowsy. The cave was far from silent – occasional shrieks, and sounds of moving rocks and boulders cut into his ear clear as day – but he didn't mind it so much. He could never sleep in complete silence, anyway. It always gave him the feeling that something was wrong. So the irregular, slightly disturbing noises were reassuring, in some sort of twisted way.

His eyes had just fluttered shut when Lyra murmured, "Hey, Silver."

He opened his eyes with an irritated sigh. She just always had to interrupt him at key moments in his life. Seriously… "What?"

"Give me your hand for a minute."

Silver complied, too brain-dead to really consider what she was going to do with it. She took it in her own. When she said nothing, he peered at her through narrowed eyelids. She was observing his hand like Professor Elm examined specimens. She even had the same expression on her face.

"It's so… delicate," she said, noticing he was watching her. "Like a girl's hand."

She lifted one of his fingers. Silver always knew his hands had been a little less built than other boys', but Lyra had to go all-out and tell him it looked like a girl's. That was great for the self-esteem. "Look how thin it is," she said, meaning his index finger.

"I've been looking at my hands for years, Lyra," Silver said with as much patience as he could muster. "I _know_ what my fingers look like."

"That's not what mean. They're so… elegant, I guess."

_Like yours_. Silver didn't dare say it out loud.

"I like them," Lyra decided, and Silver simply stared at her while she made herself comfortable in her sleeping bag. She didn't release his hand as she murmured, "Good night."

His arm was going to get cold, he realized with irritation. But… holding Lyra's hand made up for that. "'Night."

* * *

><p>He woke up when Sneasel scuttled back, early in the morning. At least, he thought it was early in the morning. It was fairly difficult to tell in cave.<p>

He sat up and stroked the Pokemon's head. Or at least he tried. He switched hands halfway through, leaving his left in Lyra's right. "What were you doing?" he asked his Pokemon. Sneasel evaded the question by curling up in his lap, letting out some sort of purr and its dangerous claws carefully away from his sleeping bag. Silver would be furious if it tore the fabric.

Silver looked around. His Pokemon were scattered around but were nearby: Alakazam was in some sort of meditation pose, probably sleeping, with Typhlosion lying down besides it. Honchkrow had tucked its head in its wing; the only reason Silver knew it was alive was of its body rising up and down rhythmically. Other than that, Magneton was floating around listlessly and Gengar was prowling around, poking at rocks and occasionally blasting them to pieces with a mini-Shadow Ball attack.

Silver always knew Gengar had a destructive streak as he winced at a particularly vicious attack. He'd known that even when he'd first caught it as a Gastly.

"Do you know what time it is?" Silver asked his Sneasel softly. His Sneasel nodded, and from its head motions Silver gathered that it was around six o'clock in the morning. Hm. A little later than his normal time, considering he rose with the sun and the sun rose early in the summer.

Sneasel nodded at Silver's hand, firmly anchored in Lyra's. "It was her idea," Silver told him, feeling his cheeks get hot. The Pokemon smiled knowingly. "It was," Silver protested, keeping his voice down.

Magneton floated over and looked down expressionlessly at the Sneasel currently occupying Silver's lap. It had always been hard for Silver to understand Magneton; the Pokemon was as impassive as they came. He had finally figured it out by observing the way it moved the magnets on its body. But even then he got it wrong half of the time.

Of course, once Magneton moved, it caught Gengar's attention. The ghost vanished and reappeared inches from Silver's face. _How often have I woken up to meet its creepy smile?_ Silver wondered briefly. He had lost count long ago. "Morning to you too," Silver told the Pokemon softly, reaching up his free hand to pat its purple head. It sank right through the ghost, per usual, but Gengar's grin widened nevertheless.

Sensing the disturbance Alakazam woke up. It prodded the two Pokemon beside it awake and came to Silver. In a matter of seconds he had all six of them crowding him, all of them on his right. They didn't dare step into the left side, where Lyra's hand clutched Silver's in a vise grip. It was kind of funny, not that Silver told them that.

He had returned all but Sneasel to their respective Pokeballs when Lyra finally awoke, about an hour later. "Morning," she greeted, sitting up and yawning. She tried to stretch both arms and ultimately failed; Silver had to chuckle when she looked down and saw, again, Silver's hand in her own.

"Well, then, you'll just stretch with me," she said, and tried again. Silver didn't bother resisting. Stretching was always good, _and_ he was holding Lyra's hand. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, for him, at least.

For breakfast, Lyra looked through her box of goodies and pulled out four slices of bread. Silver had to raise an eyebrow at the peanut butter – _where the _hell_ had that come from?_ – but didn't complain as they ate. He had noticed that Lyra rarely ate out, but he honestly didn't expect her to keep a food bank in her bag. That was probably why she didn't let him borrow stuff; she had precious few places to keep other supplies, like Potions and her pillow. Wherever she had gotten that. Silver considered asking her about it and then decided against it. What did he care that she had a pillow? Except that he didn't have one, and he would have liked to.

Silver sighed. He was definitely getting soft.

They were already starting to trek when he asked, "Uh, are you going to let go of my hand?"

She looked back at him. He had to admit, he liked being dragged along – less work for him, see – but after awhile, he kind of wanted to be by himself for a bit. "Eventually," she said at last, turning back to the front. He sighed and rolled his eyes, but didn't complain more. There was no point, anyway; Lyra was as stubborn as a… well, he didn't know. But she sure was stubborn.

Despite the fact Lyra was leading the whole time, there was little conversation for hours – mostly "Can you let go now?" and then a sharp reply of "No!" – and no Pokemon attacked them. It seemed they had all fled to the lower levels of the cave, where they could escape as needed. Which was, though at the same time a blessing, a little nerve-racking. Pokemon at Mount Silver didn't scare easily, so this had to be something huge in order for this entire ruckus to happen.

"Two paths," Lyra said suddenly, jolting him from his thoughts around noon. Indeed, they were at a crossroad. Silver knew which one led to the top, and hadn't bothered exploring the other one. He'd been lucky to guess which way to go the first time he'd come here. It had saved him a lot of time.

They stared at the two entrances, each dark and ominous. "Which way?" Lyra asked him.

He pointed to one with his free hand. "That one leads to the top, where Red is."

As soon as he spoke a screech was heard from the other cave. It was loud, desperate, and didn't belong to a human.

"Maybe we should go that way," Lyra said after a long pause, nodding to the other entrance.

"We still have to deliver Red's food," Silver reminded her. To be honest, his curiosity was begging him to go toward the noise, but Gary had entrusted them to do something. Besides, he wanted to meet Red in the flesh.

"Red can wait," Lyra said, releasing his hand to prop her own on her hips. Silver shook it, trying to regain the feeling in it, and tucked it into his pocket before Lyra could snatch it back. "Besides, I think I recognize that cry."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Oak once talked about it. You know the legendary birds?"

It took a moment for Silver to recall some names. "Ho-oh and Lugia?"

"No, not them. There are three others. Anyway, Professor Oak had recordings of their cries, thanks to the help of Red and Gary. That one sounded like - "

"It's Moltres," a voice behind them interrupted. The two spun around, their eyes falling upon the brunette easily scaling the rocky terrain to reach them. "I'm surprised you recognized it, pigtails – oh, wait, you don't have them anymore, huh."

"I was getting to it, Gary," Lyra said stiffly. Silver rolled his eyes.

"You do look a lot smarter when you ditch the hat and hairdo, I'll give you that. Get some glasses and you'll be a freaking genius," Gary told her with a smirk. She glared at him as he turned to Silver. "So I take it you haven't reached Red yet?"

Silver didn't really like talking to Gary. So he kept it short. "No."

Gary rolled his eyes. "Slowpokes. Well, don't bother. Knowing him, he's probably investigating the cries. Mount Silver is his mountain, in a way." Gary turned and began to walk to the entrance where the noise had come from. He looked over his shoulder. "You coming?"

"Do you want us to?" Lyra asked him, voice hard.

"Another Dexholder is always appreciated, pigtails," Gary replied with a dry laugh. "Hurry up or I'll leave you behind."

"Wouldn't that be a blessing," Lyra muttered, but despite that she and Silver trotted up and caught up with the brunette.

The trek was long and arduous; Silver was suddenly glad he'd picked the right way the first time he'd come here. Lyra, for once, remained completely silent as they walked on. An hour passed, then two, silently. Until they heard another loud cry, one that shook the walls and sent shivers down Silver's spine. This was when Gary decided to speak.

He asked Silver, "You want to hear about the legendary birds?"

Silver hesitated, but he nodded assent in the end.

"Smart choice, ginger." Gary looked forward again. "As your girlfriend was saying, there are three legendary birds: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres." Silver looked up, not fazed at the _girlfriend_ comment, and saw the senior's eyes blaze with excitement. "I'd heard rumors Moltres was here, but I really didn't believe them."

"Moltres is a fire-type," Lyra told Silver after Gary didn't continue for a few minutes. "Articuno is an ice-type, and Zapdos is an electric-type. And of course, they're flying-type too, being legendary birds."

"Don't interrupt, pigtails," Gary said suddenly, causing Lyra to roll her eyes. Still, she fell silent as the brunette continued, "Knowing Red, he's probably there, battling it. He's always been a little stupid."

"That's not very nice," Lyra said a moment later.

Gary snorted. "Who says I'm nice?"

"I bet Leaf does," Silver interrupted. He had no idea why he said it, but it seemed to fit.

Immediately Gary looked away, swiftly closing his mouth.

Lyra leaned over and whispered to the redhead, "Good one, Silver. He's blushing."

Silver shrugged, and allowed her to take his hand. She held it loosely this time, and thank Arceus for that. His nerves would still be able to, well, feel when they reached their destination.

It was silent for another half hour after that. Lyra broke it by asking, "This Leaf girl. What's she like?"

"She's a lot prettier than you, pigtails." Lyra's initial expression, a face of curiosity, immediately dropped into a deep scowl. Silver shot her a soft look as Gary continued, "Plus, she's a badass with Pokemon. She's on par with Red, almost. Kind of scary."

"It'd be fun to meet her," Lyra managed, overcoming the insult with some difficulty. Silver squeezed her hand, and she gave him a grateful look.

"You'd like her, I think, pigtails," Gary agreed. He was an entirely different person, Silver noticed, when it came to this Leaf girl. It was sort of strange. But Silver knew what it was like. "You'd probably be able to battle her pretty well."

They fell into silence. Silver broke it this time, asking Lyra, "What time is it?"

Gary answered, flipping his PokeGear open faster than Lyra. "Four-ish." Another roar sounded through the cave, sounding a lot closer than the other ones. "We're getting close," Gary said, albeit unnecessarily, and the three quickened their pace.

They came into a giant cavern, as dark as a night in Ilex Forest. The walls sloped down, down, down to a small clearing at the bottom. And in the center…

"Arceus," Lyra breathed. The bird's wings and body were aglow with fiery flames, and it screeched the same sound they'd been hearing throughout the journey. It was flapping around wildly, spewing fire in all directions. Far below, there were two small figures, dancing around it with one Pokemon out each.

"As I thought, there's Red," Gary said, pointing to one of the figures, the one who moved with utter grace and elegance. The other's movements were more jerky but were still certain, and he frowned. "And that other one…"

"That's Leaf, isn't it?" Silver asked him. Gary nodded assent. "Let's hurry, then," Silver decided, and together the three half ran, half skidded down to the center of the cavern. Lyra had to release his hand for that part, something she didn't seem too pleased about.

"Leaf!" Gary shouted once they'd hit the bottom. Gary was surprisingly agile for someone who was a researcher, but then Silver remembered he was also a Gym Leader.

The girl's head whipped to them and green eyes widened. She wiped sweat out of her eyes and yelled at her Pokemon, "Keep going, Clefable!" Then she turned and ran to Gary, panting, her face and clothes smeared with ashes.

"Gary, what are you doing here?" The girl had her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and somehow she had a hat that remained secured to her head. Silver was sort of iffy about how short her skirt was, but he wasn't really one to judge. She was… pretty, he supposed. But in no way did she amount to Lyra.

"Research, and I had to check up on Red," Gary explained rapidly, so quickly Silver almost missed the entire sentence. Then he asked, "What's going on?"

"The thing's in a frenzy!" Leaf yelled as the Moltres let out a loud screech. The other figure, hidden by the bird's flames, was slowly making their way to them. "Red and I have managed to keep it at bay, but it's a good thing you came when you did!" She suddenly spun on her heel and commanded, "Clefable, dodge that, counter with Metronome!"

The large pink Pokemon in front of them obeyed, and Metronome became a vicious Double Kick. Leaf turned around and resumed the conversation, as if nothing had happened, and said calmly, "Who're these two?"

"One's a Dexholder, the other's strong in his own right. We can use their help!" Gary released his Pidgeot, the beautiful bird Silver had seen the first time he'd seen him. "Pidgeot, Air Slash!"

Leaf returned her Clefable and Gary smoothly took her place. She scrabbled up the sloped walls and sat a distance away, safe from the fire attacks that Moltres was releasing. Silver and Lyra followed. "I'm Leaf," she said wearily, sticking out a hand.

Lyra shook it. "I'm Lyra. This is Silver."

Leaf held out a hand expectantly. Silver just stared at it. As far as he'd remembered, he had never shaken anyone's hand before. Well, besides Professor Elm's – but that didn't really count.

"Not too social?" Leaf asked, as if they were having a normal conversation despite the fierce battle going on next to them. "I understand. Nice to meet you." She took her hat off of her head and fanned herself with it. "Aren't you hot? You're wearing a black coat and cargo pants, from the looks of it."

Silver shook his head. He got cold easily; why else would he wear the coat throughout the summer? No, for the moment, he was fine.

"Suit yourself." Leaf leaned back and sighed, placing her hat on her stomach. "You better go in and help. You got type advantage, junior?"

"I have a Gyarados," Lyra offered. Silver briefly wondered about the 'junior' name, but then he realized that this Leaf girl probably had a PokeDex as well. So technically, Lyra _was_ her junior.

"Too big. Try something smaller. What about you, redhead?"

"No," Silver said. Apparently Leaf was fond of nicknames. He'd been called redhead often, though, so it didn't bother him.

"Sent out a medium-sized Pokemon, like Gary's." Lyra gave a rapid nod of assent. She removed her bag swiftly and let it plop next to the older girl. Then she made her way to the clearing, released her Noctowl, and joined the fight. She and the other two boys worked together fluidly; it was beautiful to watch, Silver had to admit.

"We'll just leave it at that for now," Leaf said. This girl knew what she was doing. Silver decided that she'd be better as an ally than an enemy, right then and there. He didn't want to get on her bad side, that was for sure. "What are your Pokemon?"

"I'll just go with my Gengar, thanks," Silver replied.

Her eyes, which had been closed, opened and looked over at him. "Cautious, aren't you? Not telling me what Pokemon you have, I mean." She nodded to Lyra. "Unlike that girl there."

"I try," Silver said curtly.

She chuckled. "Smart answer. Let's get Red over here. You can take over for him." Her voice rose in such a way that it was audible all around the cavern. "Red! The redhead will take your place, so come here!"

After mere moments a boy strode toward them, a Pikachu limping tiredly at his feet. His raven hair was tucked securely under a cap. "This is Silver," Leaf said, gesturing to the silent redhead. "Silver, this is Red."

"I gathered," Silver said despite himself. Red nodded to him, and Silver nodded back. When nothing else was said, Silver almost sighed out loud in relief; finally, someone who didn't talk, much like himself. Silver could understand the older boy opposite him very well just by reading his body movements. And obviously it was the same for Red.

"Be careful," Leaf advised. "Moltres may not look like much, but Arceus… when it's in a frenzy, there's no stopping it."

Silver nodded assent and proceeded to delicately pick his way back down when a hand clamped over his shoulder. He looked back and met the ruby irises of Red. Wordlessly, his senior handed him a Berry. Silver looked at it; it was a Rawst berry, effective for curing burns. He nodded his thanks and made his way down, released Gengar halfway and commanding, in a calm but controlling voice, "Shadow Ball."

Leaf chuckled as Red sat down next to her. "You like him, don't you." Red didn't reply, and that was all the answer Leaf needed. "You're right, though. He reminds me of you. Just a bit more, ah, vocal."

Red didn't react. Leaf slapped his thigh lightly with her hand and watched as the three newcomers fought.

Silver leapt down to the flat ground, standing behind his Pokemon. He preferred to fight with them sometimes, instead of standing back and letting them do all the work. Lyra and Gary shifted their Pokemon's position to allow him into the circle.

It was strange. Silver had to constantly dodge flames, and more than once he had to pat out fires that would begin to burn his clothes. So he kept moving around sideways, sometimes getting close to Gary or Lyra, sometimes completely passing by them. It was the same for them, of course, and Silver found it exhilarating. The feeling of working together so well gave him a strong feeling of accomplishment and happiness.

Eventually, they wore the legendary bird down that it decided to fly up and away from its attackers. Gary and Lyra simply mounted their Pokemon and followed. Silver had to return Gengar and follow suit on Honchkrow, while Leaf and Red watched from below.

Despite its grave injuries, the Moltres was fast. It kept dipping and swerving to avoid physical attacks, and eventually it was just a good, old-fashioned cat-and-mous chase; Silver, Lyra and Gary kept trying to corner it, but they ultimately failing each time.

"A little help would be nice!" Gary yelled down at Leaf and Red at some point, swooping down so close to them the pair had to duck to avoid being clawed.

"Oh, fine," Leaf shouted back, releasing a Pidgeot as well and rising quickly to join them. Despite the rumors Silver had heard – that Red didn't have a flying-type he fought with – the raven-haired boy soon joined them, riding expertly on a Fearow.

"Anyone have any long-distance attacks?" Lyra yelled as all five of them swerved to avoid the fireball Moltres threw back at them.

"Does anyone have a Pokemon they could have on their bird with long-distance attacks?" Leaf shouted, amending her junior's statement as Red dove toward the legendary, intent to attack with Drill Peck. The Moltres dodged with elegant ease.

"Silver!" Lyra called out, after a tense pause. Silver looked back at her. "Gengar! He's a ghost, he doesn't weigh anything!"

_Oh, duh_. Why hadn't he thought of that? He leaned down, holding Honchkrow's black feathers carefully, and whispered what he was going to do in its ear. It squawked in reply, dodging another random fireball with ease.

Gengar was, needless to say, a little startled to find himself on the back of a bird. "Listen, Gengar," Silver told the Pokemon softly. "Do you think you can land some sort of attack on – you know – _that_?" He gestured lightly to the Moltres.

"Silver's got it! Everyone, maneuver the bird to him!" Gary yelled. They had been in some sort of loose formation, with Silver near the center, but now the other four dipped and swerved away, so he was alone behind the bird. It wasn't an exactly reassuring situation, and for a moment Silver felt lightheaded. Then Gengar launched a Shadow Ball, all of a sudden, right at the Moltres, and that brought his attention back to what he was doing.

The Shadow Ball missed, by a margin. "Go for fast and small," Silver advised to his Pokemon, to which Gengar nodded grimly and began to charge the next one.

For a moment, Silver looked down. He'd never been afraid of heights, but the size of this cavern was dizzying. That was probably why Moltres had chosen to remain here, due to the sheer amount of space to stretch its wings as well as the fact it was hidden from humanity.

He looked back up and pointed to where Gengar should aim. His Pokemon obeyed, and the attack actually hit the elusive firebird. It shrieked in pain, turned, and charged straight at him.

"Oh, shit," Silver muttered. Then he called, "Honchkrow, bank sharp left, then down."

His Pokemon obeyed, gracefully dodging the legendary. Gengar even managed to hit it with another Shadow Ball as they dipped into a steep dive. Gengar grasped Silver's coat to hang on; fortunately, the stumpy fingers didn't go straight through the fabric.

"Pull up," Silver commanded softly, and Honchkrow pulled out of the dive and swooped upward. Gengar let out a small screech of alarm as he did so, to Honchkrow's amusement. "Bank slightly right and follow."

He'd been teaching his bird verbal commands for a long time. He was fairly certain he could beat Faulkner in a battle in the sky. That's how good he and his Honchkrow worked together.

"That was a nice show," Leaf called to him when he flew past. "You'll have to teach me how to do it!"

Silver didn't respond in any way. Let her teach her bird herself. He knew she could.

After another hit by Gengar, and another charge and dodge, Honchkrow squawked under him; it was getting tired. Lyra heard it and swooped down beside him. "Silver, rest your bird; I'll take it from here."

"Go," he told the ghost when it hesitated at Lyra's beckoning hand, the grin fading ever-so-slightly. Silver knew her Noctowl and his Honchkrow wouldn't be able to fly so close together for long. "Be careful."

His Gengar chattered at him, and Silver rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'll be careful too."

Gengar jumped off Honchkrow onto Lyra's Noctowl, and she resumed the chase while Honchkrow gratefully spiraled slowly to the ground. Silver clambered off the bird with a sigh; his fingers were stiff from holding on for so long, and his hair was windswept. It felt odd as he brushed his hand self-consciously through his long, red hair. But he could see from both eyes as well, so perhaps it wasn't the worst thing ever.

Gary came down moments later. "Good job, Pidgeot. Rest for a bit." He turned his eyes to Silver. "You did pretty well, for someone without a Dex."

Silver's eyes narrowed, his hand instinctively reaching for the Pokeballs at his waist. "That was a compliment," Gary protested.

Silver slowly withdrew his hand, giving Gary a sharp glare, and then walked to where he had abandoned his bag. As he returned, he noticed Gary walking around his Honchkrow. What was he doing, examining it? Researcher he may be, but Silver wasn't going to stand for that. He didn't like the nervous look his bird had on its face.

Silver smoothly stepped between his bird and Gary, his back to the other boy. He heard Gary snicker, but the pacing stopped and when Silver looked back, he saw Gary occupying himself with his own bird. Silver sniffed disdainfully before fishing through his bag and crouching down next to his bird.

"How's it going?" He got a quiet squawk in return as Silver closed his hand around what he had been looking for. He held out a Sitrus berry to Honchkrow, who gobbled it up gratefully. Silver didn't really like using man-made Potions and such, preferring to use elements from nature. It was why he was particularly fond of berries. His Pokemon liked them better, too, so that was another plus.

"Potions work just as well, you know," he heard Gary's snide voice behind him.

Arceus, he was driving Silver crazy. Silver stood up, looping his bag over his shoulder, and turned to the offender.

"I know," he said calmly, concealing his frustration with ease. He had grown to be able to control his emotions very well. It was a needed skill, for him; Lyra constantly got on his nerves, and he had made it a personal rule not to snap back at her. Most of the time.

He blinked. Since when had he made it a personal rule? Not that it mattered, he supposed.

"So why not use them?"

_His voice is so nasally,_ Silver thought crudely. "I prefer not to," he said, phrasing the simple sentence carefully.

Gary snorted. "Suit yourself, ginger."

_I think I will_. "Piss off," Silver replied, turning his back to the senior.

That got a bark of laughter from his senior. But then, after a moment of silence filled only by wild bird cries, Gary said absently, "Amazing, isn't it."

Silver looked back at him. Gary was watching the firebird with undisguised awe. "The thing's a powerhouse. There's five of us, and yet…"

He didn't need to continue. Silver knew exactly what he meant.

He could see Lyra and Gengar flying after the Moltres, launching attacks and most of them missing. When on hit, though, his heart hammered in his chest as the bird whipped around and charged directly at her. But she dodged, much like he had. Really, what was he worrying about? Lyra was still the better trainer than him.

When Gary didn't attempt to strike up conversation again, Silver went back to his Honchkrow. Its energy had returned, thanks to the berry. "Ready to go?" he asked it softly. It nodded, spreading its wings and allowing Silver to mount up. They were up in the air in seconds.

Silver flew close to Lyra. She didn't notice until he was close, but when she did, she said, "Thank Arceus. Noctowl's getting tired."

"Gengar, come," Silver ordered. The ghost obeyed immediately, chattering at Silver. Silver roughly translated the words as _That girl had no freaking idea what she was doing!_ "Rest, Lyra."

"I think I will. Hey!" she called after him as he began to fly away. He urged Honchkrow back next to her. "Be careful. It's getting late, and you'll probably be drowsy."

"I will," he promised her, and they shared a look. The action had more words than Lyra could possibly saw in one day, and she nodded at him before descending. Then he murmured to Gengar, "Aren't I always?"

His Gengar just gave him a look.

Silver laughed. "Yeah. You're right. I guess I'm not."

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><p><strong>This is very long, and it took me forever to write. I hope I don't disappoint. Hey, that rhymes! Anyhoo, please review... I could really use feedback. Or random comments. I love random reviews. They're so fun to read.<strong>

**By the way, this is the second to last chapter. Please tell me if I should write a sequel. Thanks much!  
><strong>


	7. Day 7: Conclusion

**As promised, the extremely delayed chapter – my apologies. But this is also the last one. I've tried something new, switching back and forth between views – tell me if it's any good, please.**

**My thanks to my awesome reviewers (this got over one page on Word. Crazy. Crazy, I tells ya. Crazy.):**

pokefan113**: Your faith in me is… it… thank you. Thank you so much. Really. I know what you mean by Moltres, too. **

saraerose**: You, my friend, never cease to amaze. For one, that was a very long review, but also, your commentary made me laugh. I'm very glad you think I'm entertaining – I try hard.**

TLCFTW**: We shall see. And thanks.**

Grey Natsu**: Do I sense a Fairy Tail fan? Soulsilvershipping is pretty darn cute, if you ask me, though it's extremely unlikely.**

Babette**: Weeeell, I'm not much for the romance genre. But I'll take that under consideration.**

The M.H.T. of R**: I kind of agree with you there – it would indeed be pointless, unless I do more of my adventure genre thing… which I could… I have ideas… Oh, and I looked up dainty as well, and, you know, some things happened ("OH ARCEUS, I MESSED UP **_**AGAIN**_**!"). Thanks for pointing it out.**

MewBladeXxX**: Well, the review button is now more visible, I guess. You know, I wasn't going for the whole love triangle thing, since I'm a Conflictshipping/Oldrivalshipping fan, but now that you mention it, it's actually pretty fun to play around with.**

fromidam**: If I do write a sequel, promise to keep an eye out for it :) I'm happy for the support – thank you!**

Meta-Akira**: I have to thank you so much for pointing that out. I have edited the previous chapters so it makes sense – sorry, Crobat, you just got booted out for Honchkrow (for plot's sake).**

sapphiet**: Ehe, your comments make me laugh. Keep reviewing, please – they're very entertaining! In the meantime, thanks for the support. Everything will be explained in this chapter.**

Ninja of Night**: No worries. Your review just made my day – I know exactly how you feel.**

theleonhearted**: It's… it's so nice to have support like this. *sniff* Mechanics of Pokemon, huh. I do my best, so I'm glad someone commented on it. *sniff***

Frozen**: Lovely is a great word. I had to laugh when you put that, because I know some people who use it way too much but still make it hilarious and – yeah, I'll just shut up now. I'm glad I describe things well… it gets tiring after a while… **

OSMOSIS PURE**: Soul Silver version is better, I agree. Silver gets pissed off all the time… at least, he should, in the games. But he never does! He just gets like, "I understand how to raise Pokemon now." It's very sad. He's supposed to be the bad boy, and then… well, it's disappointing.**

**READ ME! If anyone wants a bonus, I can post the original manuscript of _Seven Days of Torture_. Can you believe it was originally an oneshot? Yeesh. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

><p>"Yo, junior!"<p>

Silver didn't bother turning toward the voice, instead pointing in the direction Gengar should shoot its Shadow Ball. The ghost obeyed, landing a solid hit on the firebird right between its wings. The shriek was shrill and desperate enough for Silver to feel a twinge of pity for the legendary. Then it charged him, and all was forgotten as he said softly "Bank left, dip, left, up, follow" in rapid succession. Honchkrow followed the commands with flawless grace, elegantly avoiding the other bird.

Leaf repeated in a shout, "Junior!"

He threw his response over his shoulder. "What!"

"You have a water-type!"

"Why ask?" Silver yelled, which Leaf visibly took as a _no_. Then he thought, _Why now?_

"Fine! Stand down, we're gonna take over from here!"

Silver opened his mouth to argue, but then he shut it to avoid a stray Flamethrower. He looked back, seeing if he could still help, but they had already shoved him out of their sloppy formation. With a sigh he directed Honchkrow to land on the ground.

Lyra was sitting on a flatter rock she'd scavenged from the many surrounding her. "What's going on?" she asked, watching as Silver absently handed his Gengar and Honchkrow Oran berries before returning them to their Pokeballs.

"Dunno," he replied, clipping the balls to his belt. "Bet one of them has a Blastoise that knows Hydro Cannon, though." _How they're going to get it up there is a mystery…_

"I wonder who has which," Lyra said while looking up at their seniors, who flying around the Moltres in such a way that it flapped helplessly, unsure of whom to attack.

Silver pointed to Gary. "I think he has the Charizard. So Red has Venusaur, and Leaf has Blastoise."

"How do you know?"

He gave her a look that could almost be described as pitying. "Gary picked the starter Red's Pokemon was weak to. Any trainer worth their salt knows _that_."

Lyra pouted. "Well, I didn't know, and I beat the Elite Four. What are you going to do about _that_?"

"Nothing," Silver responded truthfully after the slightest pause. Because, as much as he hated to admit it, there really wasn't anything he _could_ do. He wasn't much for fistfights, and besides, he was certain he could never raise a hand to strike Lyra. And her Pokemon always beat his, so battling was out.

Really. There was nothing he could do. At all. And it drove him crazy sometimes.

"Junior! Catch!" Silver looked up and, by sheer reflex, caught the Pokeball thrown down at him one-handedly. He peered at it as Leaf shouted, "That's Blasty! You tell him where to aim, since you seem to be good at it!"

When Silver didn't react right away, Gary roared, "What the _hell_ is holding you up, ginger! We're going to get_ literally_ roasted at this rate!"

Silver looked up, stuck his tongue out at the him, and obliged to the command. Once the Blastoise was out of its Pokeball, however, all it did was gaze at Silver, distrusting and slightly confused.

Silver felt a little intimidated by the size, but he managed to point to one of the birds swerving above and tell it, "She's up there."

As soon as the Blastoise was looking at her, Leaf called down, "Blasty, Hydro Cannon! But aim where that redhead tells you to!"

Then the Blastoise was looking straight at him. Silver shifted his gaze to the legendary and examined the patterns of its flight. It seemed a little haphazard at first, but then he noticed the bird always circled clockwise. So when he finally did point, after a good thirty seconds, he knew his aim would be true. "There, quickly," Silver said quietly, pointing at a precise position on the wall.

The giant Pokemon reacted almost immediately, to Silver's initial surprise and then pleasure. The sheer amount of water that blasted from the Pokemon's –_ cannons? Turrets? Oh, whatever_ – was astonishing, but in any case, it hit the legendary solidly. The force was so great that the bird was slammed into the cave's rocky walls with an earsplitting screech. Silver clamped his hands over his ears, gritting his teeth. At this rate he'd lose all of his hearing.

The three seniors landed on the ground accompanied with a number of colorful curses from Gary. "That took longer than it should've," he muttered once he'd exhausted his storage of swear words, returning his Pidgeot to its ball.

Then he was smacked on the head by Leaf, hard enough that he ducked down with a grimace. She reprimanded, "You swear too much, idiot. Besides, we can't be sure it's over." She nodded to Red. "You gonna take a look?"

Red's eyebrow twitched, and he jerked his head toward where Silver knew Lyra was sitting. Only when he looked, he saw she was clambering over rocks, nearing the Pokemon with every step.

"… that idiot," Silver said at last, summing up what everyone was thinking - far more eloquently than the other three ever could.

"You know, redhead, it escapes me," Gary said. He then asked his junior, "_Why_ do you like her again?"

Silver saw no reason to explain it to Gary, even when the older boy stared. He still didn't feel like it when Leaf added her blue gaze to Gary's green one, or even when Red joined in. So instead, he shrugged.

Then Leaf nodded, to his surprise. "I know _exactly_ what you mean, junior." She elbowed Gary in the gut, hard. Silver raised an eyebrow at the squeak Gary released while he doubled over and Leaf continued, "It's a miracle I'm a friend with this egotistical idiot and that mute Pokemon Master guy."

When she shot said boy a glare, Red just shrugged with a small grin, pulling the bill of his cap down so it hid his eyes. Silver cracked a grin. His seniors were very interesting people.

"Well, let's go look, since the ginger's girlfriend seems to have beat us to it," Gary managed to say a few moments later, his voice a few notes higher than usual. Leaf giggled and Silver had to hide another smile. Red patted Gary's back and led the four as they climbed to where the legendary had landed.

Silver was the first to take in the scene, and once he did, he hissed to the others, "Stay back!"

"Why?" Leaf asked in confusion. "I should think we're better suited to seeing the bird than her - "

She stopped when Red poked her and shook his head. She peered around Silver to look. "Oh," she said softly. "Never mind."

Silver had always known Lyra had had a knack for communicating with Pokemon, but this was a little much for him. She currently had the firebird's head in her lap and was stroking the feathers on its face, murmuring softly. Moltres looked the epitome of calm under her gentle hands.

"I think I know why you like her now," Gary told Silver out of the corner of his mouth. Silver smiled wryly, wondering why they hadn't noticed it sooner. Of course, they'd had the whole problem of their attention being diverted, because they were fighting a legendary bird…

Lyra looked up after a moment and beckoned Silver over with a few fingers. _Quietly_, she mouthed. After spectacularly ignoring the doubtful look he received from Gary, Silver made his way silently to her side, where he crouched next to her.

"Do you have any berries for confusion?" she whispered, indicating with his bag with a nod. Silver did. He carefully fished around his bag, making his movements as small as possible so as not to startle the bird, which– even though it was calm at the moment and was very beautiful – was still extremely dangerous. Once he made sure he had the right one, he handed the Persim berry to her.

"And _that_, Leaf, if why you should carry more berries," Silver heard softly. He looked over to see Green leaning over Leaf, arms crossed. Leaf had her hands on her hips and was staring up defiantly at him. It was actually pretty amusing, but Silver resisted the urge to laugh and looked back to Lyra.

"Good," she was saying soothingly, massaging the Pokemon's throat gently with two fingers. After a moment the Moltres cawed, removed its head from her lap, and began to attempt to get up. After a bit of flapping and general chaos, the Moltres managed to propel itself to its feet. Silver watched in amazement as it nuzzled Lyra's face.

He heard footsteps behind him, and a light hand clamped onto his shoulder; Silver looked back to meet Leaf's eyes. "She's not as inadequate as I thought," the older girl murmured, regarding the friendly exchange with – dare he say it – jealous eye. "She's just… amazing."

"Do you think she's interested in lab work?" Green asked him in a low voice, coming up behind the redhead. Silver shrugged, indicating that he should ask her himself. "She probably isn't," Green grumbled. "'Cause she accomplished her dream of become Champion. You know, it really isn't fair, Red. I beat the League, then you waltz in and battle me and _win_. She goes and defeats Lance and that is that. Silver, you fail as a rival, you know that?"

Silver shrugged again, already quite aware of that knowledge, as Red scratched the back of his neck, grinning widely. Green punched his shoulder in that friendly manner that males punch each other. That was how Silver classified it, since he'd never been one for inflicting physical pain on people on purpose and went out of his way to avoid physical pain on himself.

"They're friends," Lyra told Moltres when it turned to look at the other four. Silver gazed into its burning red eyes for one second before tearing his own away. The depth of intelligence there was astonishing, enough to make him feel more than a little nervous.

He held stone still as the legendary approached him, each step reminding him of the talons on its feet. It came close to his face, examining him, even using its deadly beak to flick back the lock of hair hiding one of his eyes.

After a moment it moved on to Leaf, who was behind him, and Silver let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Lyra took his hand and gently tugged him away, as he was still shell-shocked and wasn't really able to move.

"Incredible, isn't it?" she murmured to him, tightening her fingers around his.

Silver didn't really know what to say. So in the end he nodded. Lyra giggled but didn't comment further.

"What's it doing right now?" he asked her, twitching the fingers she currently held. It was tight grip, but she didn't loosen it. And to be honest, he didn't really mind.

"I don't know," she replied quietly. "It might be looking to see who was responsible…"

That was new knowledge. "Responsible for what?"

"It becoming confused is what," Lyra explained. "The only reason why it was in a frenzy was because it was disoriented. It wasn't so confused that it would hurt itself, but it was close." She paused, absently running a hand through her long hair. "It might have been Red, but it was probably someone else, don't you think?"

"Red doesn't seem like the type that would even consider doing something like that," Silver agreed, eyeing the senior as he put a hand out for Moltres to examine. Silver could see the older boy loved Pokemon from the way he smiled as the legendary rested its murderous beak in his palm.

Leaf and Gary, having already been examined by the bird, ambled over to them. Gary had his hands in his pockets, listening quietly as Leaf murmured something to him. Leaf stopped talking to him when they were within earshot, leaving the pair to wonder what they had been discussing.

"Juniors, have you met Oak yet?" she asked them, stopping a few feet away. Gary stopped with her, in an absent sort of way; it was evident he was deep in thought from the faraway look in his eyes.

"I have," Lyra confirmed, surprising Silver; she'd never told him that. She pointed to him. "He hasn't."

"Makes sense." Answering the unasked question, Leaf continued, "No offense, ginger, but you aren't that impressive."

Silver struggled momentarily to find a worthy retort. Finding none, he gave up and simply gazed at her expressionlessly. Leaf was obviously used to that, though, as she ignored him. "You keep in touch with him?" she was asking the younger girl.

Lyra nodded. "He judges my Dex sometimes. I don't know how he expects to get all the Pokemon in this world, though… it's not like I can just, you know, _go_ to Sinnoh whenever I want…"

"Or Hoenn," Leaf agreed, and they didn't say more. Silver had been expecting one of them to mention Unova. But he supposed it made sense; news of Unova had been hard to find, and almost no one knew about it. Silver had only learned about it due to his dubious yet mostly reliable connections.

The silence wasn't tense, but it wasn't exactly amiable, either. It didn't continue for long, though, because then Gary said suddenly, "Something just occurred to me…"

Leaf sent him a dry glare and snapped, "That's very vague of you."

Normally, that would've gotten a searing retort from the egotistical trainer, but this time he actually ignored her. "Lyra's hometown is New Bark, mine and Leaf's and Red's is Pallet… but where is Silver from?" Another few calculating seconds, and then he added, "We don't even know where he lives."

"That's true," Leaf remarked, asking a little too casually, "Are you an orphan, Silver?"

The tone hit him like a physical blow. But he maintained his mask of indifference through willpower alone; the only thing that could possibly give him away was his free hand's fingers twitching.

"You don't have to tell them if you don't want to," Lyra said softly, noting his icy silence.

"He does," Leaf shot back, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. "We have every right to know, if _you_ know." Lyra winced at her mistake, saying 'them' instead of 'us'.

A long pause followed that, until Silver broke it. "I'm – not an orphan," Silver said haltingly. He briefly considered adding "I think" at the end, but then decided against it; no use getting some people more curious than they already were.

"Then where are your parents?" Gary asked him. Silver met his eyes and saw no malice, only simple curiosity. He was certain that if he looked at the others, it would be the same.

"Missing," Silver replied at last. It was only half-true; he wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the complete truth, either. "I… haven't seen them in years." Well, at least that was true for his mother…

He didn't remember much about his parents when he was young. The oldest memory he had was running about in Viridian City, when he was young and his mother was alive and well. Things happened, things he didn't remember, and then his parents was gone and he was wandering Goldenrod alone, stealing and begging as needed. He was one of the youngest urchins on the street, but only the most experienced gang member rivaled his street smarts. Naturally, Silver didn't venture into the back alleys and slums of Goldenrod anymore, because he had made many enemies.

The choice to steal one of Elm's Pokemon had been made on a whim. He had nothing better to do, and the prospect of having a companion was an appealing one. He'd never expected his life to improve so much, though; trainers were literally rolling in money. He hadn't gone to bed hungry since that fateful day. And he actually _got_ a bed every day, too.

Of course, then he'd encountered Giovanni and learned who he was: heir to Team Rocket.

He wondered who his mother was, briefly, before brushing it aside. She was a weak woman to leave him behind, perhaps under Giovanni's orders. Silver despised people who gave up. Of course, strong-willed people often clashed with his personality. Like Lyra. It had taken ages to realize he was openly talking – rather, openly arguing with her. When he did, it was a sort of shock. He'd never talked to people; his voice, when he used it, was normally hoarse from little use. Then a day dawned and he found, when he greeted his Pokemon, that he didn't need to clear his throat.

That was probably when he realized what changes Lyra had made in him. At the time, he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He still wasn't sure.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Leaf decided to yell "Earth to Silver!" right into his ear. He was proud of himself when he didn't jump a foot in the air. In fact, all he did was flinch away from her face.

"Finally!" Leaf said, pulling back and glaring at him, hands propped on her hips. Then she threw them up in the air and cried, "Here we are, trying to get a decent answer, and what were you doing? Having a freakin' _flashback_!"

"Flashbacks are good," Gary corrected. "That way he can tell us more."

While the two commenced arguing yet again, Red laid a hand on Silver's shoulder. When the younger boy looked up at him, Red just smiled softly and shook his head. Silver blinked in response. Then Red lifted his hand away and stood back, the Moltres still perched on a rock behind him.

"What was _that_?" Lyra wanted to know, though she wisely asked in a whisper.

_A conversation_, Silver thought, but he just shrugged.

"Oh, come on, tell me now while they're arguing," Lyra insisted, nodding to Gary and Leaf, who were currently on the verge of a fistfight. Silver could see Red cover a smile out of the corner of his eye.

"He told me that I didn't have to tell them if I didn't want to," Silver told her quietly, so as not to disturb the raging battle in front of them.

Lyra seemed perturbed. "But all he did was _smile_ at you."

"Takes one to know one," Silver told her snidely, to which she scowled. Then he asked her, "While we're waiting, can I braid your hair?"

The look Lyra gave him was priceless, and it was all Silver could do not to burst out laughing. As it was, he had to restrain a wide grin and ended up with a smirk.

"You can _braid_ _hair_?" Lyra sputtered, hands rising to her tangled brown locks in a protective manner.

Silver shrugged. "My hair could get annoying. So I used to braid it to get it out of the way when I trained. But," he added sternly, seeing Lyra's awestruck look, "I don't do that anymore, so don't ask me to show you."

After a moment, Lyra snorted and obligingly turned around, flicking her hair over her shoulders. Her hair was in a sorry state but not impossible to work with, so Silver went on and separated the many strands into three. He then proceeded to braid them together.

He was just tying off the end with a thin strip of her hair – he was professional enough to not need hair bands to hold braids in place – when Leaf and Gary finally stopped arguing and noticed what he was doing. Actually, they noticed what he was doing and then stopped arguing. "What are you doing?" Leaf asked nonchalantly, noting that the braid Silver had just completed was flawless.

He flicked it experimentally, then nodded, satisfied with his work. "I just braided Lyra's hair," he explained to them with exaggerated patience as Lyra turned around. Personally, he just wanted to see their reactions.

"How come he can do it that well?" Leaf asked Gary. She twirled a lock of her own hair and told Silver, "I've been braiding my hair for years and that looks better than _anything_ I could do."

"Should I be learning how to do that?" Gary asked Silver while Leaf fumed.

Silver gave a small smile, seeing right through the question. "It won't win you the ladies, no."

Leaf scowled and punched Gary's shoulder, hard enough that he yelped and staggered. "Don't go breaking hearts, Oak. You've already broken enough."

Gary sniffed disdainfully and, in a not-so-subtle way to change the subject, said, "We need to find out why Moltres went crazy like that."

Nearby, the firebird in question snorted and flapped its wings disapprovingly. Gary rolled his eyes at it, something Silver wouldn't have even considered daring to do, and asked his friend, "Red, you didn't do some new stupid training tactic, did you?"

The blazing look in the ruby irises told Gary exactly what Red thought about the 'stupid training tactic' barb, but nevertheless the boy shook his head. Silver almost chuckled, briefly wondering if he could get through life without ever talking.

"And we just got here," Gary said, indicating himself, Silver and Lyra. "What about you, Leaf? When did you get here?"

She shrugged. "I decided that I would go visit Red early, mostly because I wanted to beat you here." Red tapped a foot, a bit annoyed, but Leaf just laughed and swatted his arm. "And I came to see you, too, no worries."

"So something else?" Gary said, phrasing it like a question. It hung there, suspended like a cloud, until Silver butted in.

"Or some_one_, or more than just one someone, else." No one could have missed the dark tone in his voice, indicating that he had a guess of just who that someone was. But only Lyra heard as he muttered under his breath, "This is completely their style…"

"What do you mean?" Leaf asked, frowning as she fingered the edges of her hat.

"They distract all the Kanto holders, as well as us two." Silver let out a slow hiss in annoyance, scowling deeply. "Meanwhile, what sort of havoc do they wreak?"

Lyra met his eyes, her own wide. "You think it's – ?"

He didn't even need to nod; Lyra whipped her PokeGear out of her pocket and rapidly dialed Professor Elm's number. The man answered on the first ring, and right after Lyra had greeted him, he sprang into some sort of rant that was just barely intelligible. Soon enough, though, Lyra's expression had molded into one of concern and fear, and Silver realized the situation was far more extreme than he had predicted.

"Seniors," he said, and as one the three looked at him, a mixture of red and blue and green. "One of you call Oak, to make sure nothing's happened."

Red shrugged, saying that he obviously couldn't use phones, while Gary mused with one eyebrow arched, "And _why_ should we listen to you?"

He yelped as Leaf shoved an elbow to his ribs, saying in a overly sweet tone, "Shut up." She was already dialing the prestigious professor's number. As the phone went to her ear, she asked Silver, "Do you know something we don't?"

"Maybe," Silver replied, rubbing a knuckle on his forehead. "Maybe not." He added, "Hopefully not, if we're lucky."

"We all know how lucky _we_ are," Gary muttered, rolling his eyes. Silver had guessed Gary had figured it out, and he was correct as Gary continued in a mumble, "We're always getting straddled with all this Team Rocket business..."

"Professor Oak?" Leaf said suddenly, shooting Gary a meaningful glance. "Yes… just calling to make sure everything's all right – what? Elm is?" She swore such a colorful array of words that even Silver was taken aback. "What? Yeah, sorry about that… _what?_" Silence filled the air as Lyra and Leaf listened to their PokeGears, holding the devices in iron grips. "Well... as long as you're sure... yes. Bye, Professor."

"And you say _I_ swear to much," Gary commented, who was now holding a Pokeball and throwing it up and down rhythmically.

"Oak says that he wants Red to come by his lab, in case some Rocket grunts get some ideas," Leaf explained, ignoring her friend completely. The statement, however, indicated just how worried the professor was, if he wanted the Pokemon Master Red with him. "And meanwhile, Elm – "

" – is hiding behind Ethan," Lyra said, flipping her PokeGear shut and shoving it in her pocket. "Of course, Ethan being Ethan, he's kicking Rocket grunt butt, but there's a lot of them there and his Pokemon are tired."

"So he needs backup," Gary concluded.

"Exactly. Off you go to New Bark, Gary – be good and do something useful for a change," Leaf said, spinning the Gym Leader by his shoulders and shoving him toward the entrance of the cavern. He had to swerve to avoid the Moltres, who was still standing behind Red. "And Red," Leaf added, noticing the silent boy was still there, "Get moving."

"I'm always useful!" Gary snarled, though he nevertheless broke into a run, slipping some sort of rope out of the pouch at his waist. He was soon out of sight with Red on his tail. The Moltres watched the pair with vague interest; then its head swiveled and its fiery eyes settled on Silver, who squirmed in discomfort.

"What do _we_ do, then?" Lyra asked to no one in particular.

Silver shrugged, doing his best to ignore the legendary currently examining him. "We go after them."

* * *

><p>"There's just – too – freaking – <em>many<em> of them!" Ethan growled, expertly commanding all six of his Pokemon at once using a mix of hand signals and verbal orders.

"Lyra said backup is on the way, and that was ten minutes ago," Elm assured the boy, bunching up his hands and keeping them in his lab coat pockets. He was well out of the way of Ethan and his Pokemon, who were holding back waves of Rocket grunts and their Pokemon. "But why did they choose to attack _now_?"

"Lyra is gone, Silver is gone," Ethan said through gritted teeth, gesturing to his Marill to use Water Gun. "Obviously, they don't think I'm a threat, so they attack while I'm here. I _would_ take offense at that, but – the better question is, _what are they after_?"

Elm frowned, thinking. "There's nothing really worth anything in my Lab… I think…" Then his eyes widened. "Of course. Of course, they're after the Master Ball. But why?"

"I think I know," a new voice said. Ethan and Elm both turned to look, and the former gawked openly as the person dismounted from his bird. Then he heard a squeal from Marill and attempted to order his Pokemon around as well as look at the newcomer.

"Gary Oak," Elm said, nodding to the brunette. "Interesting company Lyra keeps nowadays. How'd you get here so fast?"

"We kind of bumped into each other, and in answer to the question, nothing an Escape Rope and my Pidgeot can't do. Move, kid. I'll take care of it from here."

"No way," Ethan protested. "My Pokemon are – "

" – exhausted and need a break." For an excessively cocky guy, Gary did know his stuff. "Move _over_."

Ethan did, grudgingly, while returned all Pokemon to their balls except Marill, which he scooped up and held in his arms. It wasn't going well, with all sorts of Pokemon surging forward at their master's command at the lack of resistence, but Gary released his Charizard to accompany his Pidgeot. Ethan watched dubiously as the older boy ordered it to use something called Blast Burn.

The proceeding attack knocked out every single Pokemon currently out of their balls except the Pidgeot, which had wisely flown up in the air. It had also left grunts groaning on the ground and quite a few things on fire. Ethan and Marill quickly put the flames out on a house – _his_ house – before they could get out of hand while Gary told Elm, "They want the Master Ball so they can catch Mewtwo, I'm guessing. According to Red, it's currently in Cerulean Cave, so they'll have easy access – "

"Are you serious?" Elm looked around nervously and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "_Mewtwo_? That's the same as signing a death warrant!"

"Exactly," Gary agreed, with a quick, assertive nod. "So we have to stop them before they kill themselves. And the rest of us." He paused. "Speaking of which, you _do_ have the Ball, right?"

Elm turned on his heel and hurried into his lab. Gary followed him and found the interior trashed, but Elm scurried about anyway, frantically looking for the precious violet sphere. "One of them must've come through the window," the older man said breathlessly, and Gary barely heard when he muttered, "Just like Silver."

"I'll take that as a no," the Gym Leader said after a moment, digging around his pocket until he found his phone. Elm wasn't one for cursing, but he did use one or two choice words as Gary dialed Leaf's number.

"Leaf?" Pause. "They're after Mewtwo, and they got the Master Ball. You know where to go?" He listened for a moment, then sighed tiredly. "Well, fill them in, I guess. I'll meet you there." He flipped the phone shut and began to walk out, holding up a hand and fluttering his fingers in a delicate sort of manner – completely out of character, but also sort of fitting for some reason. "Bye, Elm."

Ethan weaved around all the clutter and stood right in front of Gary, though it didn't help that the older boy towered over him. Still, it produced the desired effect: he stopped moving. "What's going on?"

Gary's lips plunged into a scowl, and he growled, "Move out of the way, kid."

"It's Ethan, and not until I know what's going on," Ethan said stubbornly, crossing his arms. His Marill scampered around the Lab as he did so, trying to help the searching Elm. "Where are my friends?"

Gary gave him a startled look. "_You're_ friends with the ginger?" He shook his head, murmuring, "Will wonders never cease."

"So they're all right?" Ethan asked, persistent.

"Yes – they're fine. Now can you move? Elm can tell you what's going on."

Ethan gave his signature breezy sigh, but nevertheless, he moved aside, and Gary exited the building.

"Let's go," he told his Charizard, mounting his Pidgeot with the grace of an Espeon. "We have to fly to Cerulean."

His Charizard snorted, as if saying, _You're going to make _me_ fly as well?_

Gary sighed, took out the designated Pokeball, and returned his Charizard, commenting, "Lazy." Then his voice took on a different tone, the one he used specifically for battle commands. "Fly!"

Ethan watched as the Pidgeot took to the air with an elegant flap of its wings.

"I wonder how Lyra beat him," he remarked to no one in particular.

Despite all that had happened, he could hear the smile in Elm's voice. "There's no reason to ask that, is there?"

Ethan turned around, stretching one of his sore arms. He looked around the trashed Lab and sighed again, knowing he'd have to help clean up. "I suppose not."

* * *

><p>"Last time I went to Cerulean Cave, some guy turned me away, saying it was too dangerous," Lyra told her senior.<p>

Leaf grinned. "They don't let you in until you beat Gary. Good stuff, right?" Then she looked at Lyra curiously. "You _did_ beat him?"

"Yeah," Lyra replied. "He seemed pretty happy when I did… kind of depressed, too."

Both Lyra and Silver winced, causing their respective birds to squawk in annoyance, as Leaf suddenly cracked up, holding onto her Pidgeot's feathers with one hand and the other on her stomach. "He's a cocky idiot, but you put him in his place, didn't you?" she managed to say between laughs. "Arceus, what I would give to see the look on his face…"

Silver watched as Lyra smiled hesitantly. "I would've taken a picture of it, but my PokeGear was out of battery," she admitted.

That got another round of laughs from Leaf and even Silver struggled to keep a straight face. Trying to imagine Gary surprised and sad and happy all at the same time was nearly impossible, seeing as Silver had never seen any of those emotions on his features.

"So why are we going there?" Silver asked Leaf.

She immediately stopped laughing. "Apparently, they're after Mewtwo," she said seriously. Silver understood, but Lyra obviously didn't, given the confusion apparent on her face. "Mewtwo was an attempted clone of the legendary Pokemon Mew," Leaf explained to her, before continuing on, "They've got a Master Ball so there's no way they can fail, so long as they don't get killed first - which is unlikely. So..."

"So," Silver echoed, then said, "We have stop them in time."

"That's about right, yes," Leaf said with a nod. "You both up to the task? No doubt we'll be swamped by grunts."

The pair nodded. Of course they were. It wasn't like they hadn't fought Team Rocket on numerous occasions in the past.

"I wonder where they get their members," Lyra said suddenly. "Since they always seem to have so many."

Silver snorted. "Like everyone else – they put an ad in the paper."

That startled a laugh from the two girls, but then Lyra looked at his face and saw his bleak expression. "Wait, you're not kidding?"

"Nope. Don't you two read the newspaper?" No response from either of them. He shook his head with a sigh. "It's a small thing, in the corner usually, but there's one everyday. They must bribe the employees or something."

He could literally feel Leaf's dubious gaze. "Do you _look_ for them?" she asked, curious.

He shrugged. "They have a meeting place and time. Different every day. Sometimes I go just to see what new crap they're spewing." His metallic eyes flashed as he continued, "At one point one of the admins claimed the heir of Team Rocket was coming. It was quite interesting. They were all fired up, but then the next day, when the so-called heir didn't arrive, they were crushed."

"Admins?" Lyra asked.

"Executives," Silver explained.

Lyra nodded and murmured, mostly to herself, "Didn't know they were also called admins."

Leaf seemed to be thinking. Once their small conversation died down she interrupted, "Heir, not heiress?"

"Yes," Silver confirmed.

"Since when did Giovanni have a son?" Leaf wondered, visibly impressed. "I thought any woman would be smart enough to stay away from him."

That stung, but only a little bit. He deliberately ignored the quick glance Lyra gave him as he said, "Don't ask me. All I did was sit in the background and watch idiots get excited over nothing."

Leaf chuckled again, and then said, with the tone of someone who's just discovered something amazing and shiny, "I've never laughed so much in one day. Maybe I should get to know my juniors better."

Silver and Lyra exchanged a glance, a small smile on her lips, but neither said a word.

"Hey, we're almost there," Leaf said instead, knowing just what to say to reduce the awkwardness of the conversation. Silver followed her gaze as she cast her eyes around the beautiful landscape. "Look, there's Pallet!" She pointed to a tiny town set near the sea, and Silver squinted to see. It was so small… and rural. So much so that he almost expected her to have some sort of country accent when she said, "And we're above Pewter right now, I'm guessing."

"That's the museum," Lyra said, pointing to a majestic building that looked much less impressive from above. "So yes, this is Pewter City."

Silver had wandered through the city once or twice. There was nothing really of interest, so he'd never hung around for long. Besides, there was a PokeCenter in front of the town's cave, so he never had the need to spend the night there, either.

"And here's the notorious Pewter Cave," Leaf noted as they flew over it. "I remember the first time I went through it. Arceus." She laughed. "Never again, that's for sure."

Lyra laughed too, but Silver just rolled his eyes. He wasn't lazy enough to bother Flying over a cave, and besides which, caves were good places to train. The darkness, in any case, suited him just fine.

A few minutes longer and Leaf directed her Pidgeot down. Silver and Lyra urged their birds to follow, and soon enough they stood in front of the gaping cave mouth. "Hello," Leaf greeted the man standing guard there.

"Morning, Leaf," he replied, and Silver took that as a sign that Leaf came here frequently. "Who're these kids?"

"That one's Lyra, the current Champion, and that's her friend Silver." Silver almost argued about his lack of a title but decided against it, wondering just how little the man knew - he didn't recognize Lyra, for Arceus' sake! - as Leaf continued, "He's just as strong as her, by the way, so I wouldn't worry. But that's not why we're here."

Leaf then proceeded to fill the guard in on what was happening while Silver wandered over to the entrance, peering inside. He took just a few steps in and found his vision was obscured by darkness. He wisely decided to back out, one of his hands absently on his Pokeballs. The sheer silence of the cave unnerved him; he had no idea what he'd be facing if he went in there.

A fitting place for Mewtwo, that was quite clear.

"So basically, I'll be under attack soon," the guard said, not phrasing it as a question. He didn't seem to be taking it well.

Leaf smiled cheerfully, and Silver knew she wasn't faking her bright tone. She was actually happy to be battling a criminal syndicate; at this point in the game, though, he wasn't surprised. "Yep!"

The guard sighed. Silver wondered if he'd believe them. Then he surprised Silver by saying, "I figured it would happen sooner or later."

"I knew you'd say that," Leaf said with a smile.

"I take it you're all here to help me?"

"Yes," Lyra asserted, absently fingering her braid. Silver noticed she did that constantly now, as if it were something she couldn't bear to lose. Granted, _he_ had braided it, but it was just a braid. He could redo it if need be. "I think we'll be okay if we all work together."

At that, the man snorted. "We've just met, young Champion. Don't get your hopes up on that."

Lyra looked taken aback from the cynical remark, but she said nothing and just shrugged at Silver's inquiring look. _At least she knows he's right_, Silver reflected, feeling harsh as he thought it.

He was already concerned about his newfound softness, but this new revelation threw him off-balance. Oh, how he hated change, especially within himself.

Leaf shaded her eyes from the morning sun and looked around. "Do you suppose they'll arrive by Flying in or by Surfing in?"

The guard chuckled. "It'll be by swimming, I'm sure."

"That's true," Lyra remarked. "I've never met a single grunt with any Pokemon that knew either Surf or Fly."

_It's a wonder how they move around so quickly_, Silver thought absently. Then he frowned. How had the guard been so certain, that the grunts would swim in? They may have picked up birds, or some sort of Water-type, and then come in like that. Besides, Silver doubted they would swim. Most grunts were surprisingly vain and hated getting their costumes - yes, costumes - messed up.

Just to make sure his guess what exactly what it was – a guess – he asked slyly, "They don't seem very athletic, and I bet their clothes are heavy." This won a curious look from Lyra, who knew he rarely said anything unnecessary, which he tactfully ignored. "How fast did they go?"

The man missed that the last sentence was in past tense and said offhandedly, "Oh, pretty slow, I guess."

That was all Silver needed to hear, not that the other two girls noticed. "We've been duped," he muttered, softly enough that no one heard him. _Damn._

With this in mind he whirled toward the cave entrance, retracting his Typhlosion's ball from his belt. He released the Pokemon as he ran into the darkness, using his Pokemon's flame to light up the cavern. Both Lyra and Leaf called after him, with the man ordering at him to stop – to which Silver responded with some rather rude wrods – and after mere moments he could hear hurried footsteps behind him.

"What's going on?" Lyra asked breathlessly, catching up when Silver slowed to a slow jog, one that his Typhlosion could easily keep up with.

"He knew how fast they had been swimming," Silver said simply. Then he added, "And that they had _been_ swimming. That guard is an imposter."

It took a little while, but then realization dawned on the girl's face. "Good thing you caught that," she said casually, though Silver could sense her fear by the tense way she held herself.

A little self-consciously, he reached out and slipped his fingers between hers. She gave him a small, grateful smile and the two and the Pokemon continued on, delving deeper into the cave.

* * *

><p>Red arrived at Oak's lab to find it deserted. Inside, outside – empty. There was no life anywhere. Even the Pokemon had fled.<p>

_Curious_, he thought as he wandered around, his trusty Pikachu relieved to finally be out of its ball. It was unfortunate, really; the timing he'd gone to the Moltres could not have been worse. His Pikachu had been wounded by an Ursaring and had been unable to fight when he'd finally been battling the legendary. It probably would've helped quite a bit, since it was light enough to stay on his bird and had type advantage.

In the meantime, though, Red had other things to focus on. First order of action: find Oak. If not, second order of action: find and keep Oak's Master Ball safe. And finally, if all else failed, third order of action: follow his friends and juniors to Cerulean Cave and help defeat Team Rocket.

Red had had _enough_ of Team Rocket. Even when he shut Giovanni down, they came back like the pesky gnats they were. Arceus, he hoped this would be the last time they bothered him again.

Red wandered through the Professor's Lab, keeping his footsteps as quiet as he was able. There was the constant hum of the machines, a few _thuds_ here and there, but no matter how hard he strained his sharp ears, he couldn't detect anything that sounded remotely alive.

And then his Pikachu chirped at him, indicating it'd heard something he hadn't. Red followed the Pokemon as it bounded away, down a hallway, past a few doors, before finally sitting in front of one near the end of the hallway. Red read the label: _Storage_.

Probably the best place to hide, Red thought as he tried the knob. Locked. He retraced his steps and looked for a paperclip, finding one relatively quickly and keeping the papers it held together flat on a table. As he walked back he bent it into his desired shape and then proceeded to attempt to pick the lock.

After a few good minutes of slowly working the paperclip into the lock and then jiggling it around, the door unlocked. His Pikachu raced in and, when Red got another chirp, he entered the room himself.

His eyes settled upon the corner of the room, where a Rocket grunt currently cowered. Nearby, Oak was tied up and gagged to a chair. A few more grunts had scrambled to their feet, but one was backing away, fearful of what he saw.

_Some still remember me, at least,_ Red thought, nodding to his Pikachu. The room was only small enough for the one Pokemon, and Red knew it was more than capable of battling all of the grunts' Pokemon at once.

It was over pretty quickly, and once Red untied the professor, Oak told him gratefully, "A few minutes more and they would've gotten away. Thanks, Red."

Red smiled, before tapping his Pokeball and drawing an 'M' in the air with his finger. Oak got the meaning.

"They were interrogating me for the location," Oak explained. "Currently, the only professor with a Master Ball is professor Elm."

_They've already got it, don't they?_ Red thought, and the panicked expression on his face told the professor enough.

"I warned him," Oak said furiously, crossing his arms and a scowl decorating his face. "But Elm was sure Ethan would be enough to protect him. No doubt, he is," Oak added, seeing Red's look, "But the man always forgets what Silver did – he broke into his lab through the window."

Red had not known that, but he had to smile at the fact. Silver, his junior, the only one who _really_ understood him, seemed like the kind of kid to do something like that.

"In any case, I'll get someone to take care of these Rocket fiends. Why don't you go help your friends?"

Red didn't need to be told twice. He turned around and raced out of the door, his Pikachu latching hold of his baseball cap with one astonishingly high jump. Oak watched him go with a wistful smile on his face, thinking back to the days when he was a young trainer himself.

Then he looked back at the Rocket grunts occupying his storage room, sighed, and went out, locking the door behind him. It was time to make some calls.

* * *

><p>"Wait, <em>what?<em>" Gary asked Leaf again, returning his Pokemon to its ball and looking back from her to the tied-up 'guard'.

"They're already inside," Leaf repeated, shaking her head. "It was lucky the redhead figured it so quickly." She jerked her head to the cave. "Shall we?"

Gary sighed breezily. "Red can take care of himself, and I really have nothing else to do, so… I suppose."

Leaf rolled her eyes but didn't comment. "They've got a head start. How much do you bet that we catch up in ten minutes?"

Gary thought about it, and settled on a smaller amount. "Hundred."

"You're on." They shook on it.

Leaf turned and began to walk in, but Gary called, "Wait." She turned and almost got hit in the face with a flashlight.

"What the hell, Gary?" she snarled, though she took the light and switched it on.

"I missed," he said with a shrug, using a flashlight of his own. "I don't get to throw my Pokeballs around too much, so I don't get much practice."

"Excuses, excuses." They ceased speaking as they left the day behind them, going deeper into the dank cave.

After a moment, Leaf said, "Spelunking."

This startled an instant response from her friend. "What?"

"Spelunking. Lyra told me that she'd gone spelunking with Silver a few times while we were flying here, and then she told me what happened a few days ago when they did." Leaf shrugged. "I didn't even know there was a word for exploring caves, until Silver told me what it meant."

She could hear the grin in Gary's voice. "Maybe you should stick around with people for longer spans of time, instead of constantly wandering. Then you would know more words."

"I am cognizant of multifarious voluminous vocables in part due to my aesthetic locution, thank you," Leaf snapped back.

Gary didn't respond right away. Then he said, "What did you do, read the dictionary?"

She sniffed. "Possibly."

He shook his head with another grin. "You never cease to surprise, Leaf."

"I try."

Five minutes in, during which they did not talk, Gary noted, "No sight of them."

"Just you wait. Five minutes, and that hundred Pokedollars are mine."

"You're greedy," Gary accused, amused.

"I just like money," Leaf retorted. "Money is power."

"You have tons of it, stupid. You're a trainer, after all."

"'Stupid' is the best insult you can come up with? Come on, be more original, Gary." Leaf thought for a moment, then said, "Like halfwit, or dunce, or dolt, or something like that."

"You would hurt me if I said any of those," Gary pointed out. "I have to stick with the safe insults, one that only merit a short lecture."

Leaf stared at him, flashing her light to his face. He ignored her. "You really thought this out, didn't you?" she said at last, surprised.

Gary shrugged and said nothing.

"Sorry to interrupt, since you're flirting and all," a voice said in the dark, and the pair immediately flashed their lights in its direction, "But is there any reason why you didn't catch up sooner?"

Leaf sighed, seeing her ginger junior standing there with a scowl on his face. A Pokeball was in his hand; he must've returned his Typhlosion when he'd heard them coming. Lyra was next to him, but she had her face turned away and her shoulders were shaking. She realized with a jolt that her junior was _laughing_.

And then she realized what Silver had said.

"_Flirting?_"

Silver shrugged, and Leaf ignored the knowing smirk he had on his face. "That's what it sounded like. Not that I would know, because I'm not too experienced in the whole talking thing." He grinned this time, showing teeth, the first time Leaf had seen them. "I've talked more in this week than I have in my entire life."

Leaf looked at Gary. Gary looked at her. What were they supposed to say?

In the end, they were saved by Red, who stumbled onto the scene with miraculous timing. The boy took one look, sensed the awkwardness of his friends and the teasing look of his juniors, put two and two together, and then decided to do the craziest thing he could.

So he coughed to clear his throat and said in a hoarse voice, "Shouldn't we be moving?"

As he'd desired, this brought all the attention to him. "You _talked_?" Gary asked, surprised and, Red suspected, relieved to be out of the awkward situation. "It's been a while, dude."

"Three years," Leaf said with a nod. "Because you were looking for Pikachu who was lot on the mountain, calling out his name," she explained to Lyra, who looked like she was going to ask.

Red exchanged a look with Silver and noted his junior looked disappointed, and Red knew exactly why. He had also found it amusing to egg his friends on when they were forced to talk of their relationship, which, frankly, no one really understood.

Red turned and continued down the cave's rocky path, certain at least one person would follow. As it turns out, all of them did, and together, the five tromped on in the darkness.

* * *

><p>He had gotten <em>this<em> close.

But Silver couldn't be angry with Red, really. His senior had just walked in with strangely good timing, and there wasn't much he could do about it now.

Suddenly Silver had a thought. How funny was it that, when lives were at stake, he was thinking about exploiting his seniors' strange relationship? A mere week before he would've just left them at it, but now, their situation reminded him so much of his with Lyra that he hadn't been able to resist.

And Red had obviously thought it funny as well, so Silver wasn't alone on this. And of course Lyra found the whole thing hilarious.

Silver forced himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. They had to get through the cave first, to where Mewtwo was, and then they had to stop Team Rocket. But what if Mewtwo thought they were enemies too, and attacked them? He doubted his Pokemon could do much against Mewtwo who, despite being deemed a failed clone, was insanely powerful. It didn't have the same abilities as the actual Mew, but it was still strong in its own way.

All things considered, it was definitely reassuring to have all three of his seniors with him and Lyra. Red especially, considering how strong the boy's Pokemon were. Lyra had told Silver the one time she'd challenged him she had lost miserably, and that had been a year ago. His Pokemon had undoubtedly become more powerful during that time.

"How much longer?"

That was Gary, again; he'd been doing it once every five minutes. Even though Leaf had given him some money – "I lost a bet" – and he pleased while he wasn't cooped up in his Gym, Silver had learned Gary was not fond of caves. It was almost like he hated them, actually, which Silver tucked away in the corner of his mind if he ever needed to blackmail the Gym Leader.

After a moment, Leaf was the one who replied, knowing no one else would say anything. "Why don't you go ahead and find out, idiot?"

Gary retorted with an ever-creative insult. "Jerk."

And naturally, Leaf wasn't far behind. "Dolt."

"Moron."

"Imbecile."

"Cretin."

"Simpleton."

"Dimwit."

"Doofus."

"Numbskull."

"Dumbass."

Silver was always surprised for how long Gary and Leaf could exchange insults without ever repeating one. This argument was no exception.

"Nitwit."

"Twerp."

"Halfwit."

"Twit."

"Pinhead."

"Airhead."

"Bonehead."

"Blockhead."

"Dunderhead."

"Meathead – "

"_Enough already_!" Lyra hissed, spinning around. She was a head shorter, but she easily grabbed the two by their hair, knocking off Leaf's hat in the process. Silver watched, impressed, as she knocked their foreheads together hard enough that there was a _crack_ sound. "Do us a favor and _shut up_!"

Leaf muttered something under her breath, rubbing her forehead as Lyra released her and stooping to pick up her hat. Gary said nothing, just kept his eyes closed and gritted his teeth.

Red looked back and met Silver's eyes, stopping in front of a wide cave entrance. _We're almost there_, Silver thought, nodding to Red before whispering over his shoulder, "We're close, so shut up, all of you. Flashlights off. Keep your Pokemon ready." Silver unclipped his Sneasel's Pokeball from his belt. There was some rustling as people obeyed, and as Gary and Leaf turned off their flashlights, they were plunged into darkness.

They took a moment to let their eyes adjust. Then they crept into the cavern, Red in the lead. Silver had to give it to his senior; the boy could move as quiet as night when he wanted, and in the dead silence of the cavern, their soft footsteps echoed like gunshots. Only Red seemed entirely invisible.

As they turned a corner, into another thin tunnel, screams and shouts and sounds of fighting reached their ears. Silver was about to comment that they should hurry up when an unearthly roar filled his ears. Without even the command, the five moved in synch toward the noise.

They burst into the cavern to see one Rocket having his Pokemon use Flash while his friends attacked the creature standing tall and proud. From the looks of it, their Pokemon were inflicting no damage. Silver sought out the Master Ball in the place and saw it being clutched in a vice grip by a grunt in the corner.

He released his Sneasel, pointed to the Master Ball, and whispered, "Thief." The five watched breathlessly as the Sneasel jumped around, undetected, through all the chaos. He slowed down near the grunt, then lunged forward at lightning speed and snatched the ball from the grunt's hand. The grunt yelled as the Sneasel streaked back, crouching behind Silver's legs and handing the Ball to him. With their secret weapon gone, the grunt realized his predicament and yelled for help, running toward them with his Pokeballs in hand.

"Excellent," Silver said softly, giving his Sneasel a quick scratch behind the feather. The five watched as a few grunts peeled off from the main group and charged at them, their Pokemon racing by their sides.

"Now we just have to stop all the fighting," Lyra said, and sighed. She released her Meganium and directed it to use Razor Leaf as she muttered, "This is going to be tedious."

"Someone needs to keep Mewtwo distracted while we finish off the grunts," Gary noted, releasing his Charizard. It didn't even need a command to use Flamethrower. "I nominate Red."

"Seconded," Leaf added quickly, releasing her Blastoise. Red rolled his eyes. Then he walked off, easily covering the distance between him and grunts fighting and then weaving between the people like he belonged. It was an impressive display; everyone ignored him, too focused on the battle with the clone.

"Those people look familiar," Lyra said after a moment, pointing to a group of four. One of them was the person commanding the Pokemon using Flash. They other three looked distinctly different from the ordinary grunts.

"I don't recognize them," Leaf said, making use of her Blastoise's turrets by having it use Hydro Pump.

"I do," Silver said, at the same time that Gary said, "I know one."

"All I know is that the redhead girl there is named Ariana," Gary said, before Silver could speak. "Dunno about the rest."

"The guy with the hat is Proton," Silver said. "The purple-haired one is… Petrel, I think. And then the other guy is Archer."

"Did you know them?" Leaf asked him.

Silver shrugged. "Lyra mentioned them a few times, when she was fighting them here and there. I just happen to have a better memory."

"Oh, shut up," Lyra said airily, though it was obvious her attention was on the battle.

"So they're the ones in control here?" Gary asked. Silver nodded. "Well, then, one of us should go after them."

The three looked at Silver. He was the only one who didn't have a Pokemon out that was currently fighting the grunts, since his Sneasel had perched itself on his shoulders.

Wordlessly Silver turned and shoved past the fighting Pokemon, dodging the grunts that tried to keep him back, occasionally countering by reaching behind them and stealing the remainder of their Pokeballs. It was a skill he'd learned on the streets, and one he didn't hone but never let himself forget. Once he had the Pokeballs he dropped them on the ground, taking care that none of them actually released the Pokemon they held.

Behind him he heard Gary say, "A thief is always a thief."

"This is the first time I've seen him do it in plain sight," Lyra confessed, and Silver rolled his eyes.

Then Gary brought up a good point, not that Silver hadn't thought of it. "Won't the grunts just pick their Pokeballs up?"

Leaf snorted. "No, dumbass. All the grunts have the same Pokemon, remember? They wouldn't be able to order Pokemon that aren't theirs."

"They could try," Lyra pointed out.

Silver lost the rest of the conversation as some of the grunts scrambled on the ground, trying to find the Pokeballs that belonged to them, and marched purposefully toward the four Rocket Executives. They noticed him coming, along with his Sneasel still perched on his shoulder, though they didn't bother doing anything.

There was one of two ways he could stop this. One was, obviously, to fight. The other was to reveal his heritage.

Now which would be easier?

_As long as they believe me, and as long as Leaf and Gary don't hear, the second one would be. Of course, the first one is more exciting._

"Well, Sneasel, should I tell them?" he asked, removing his Sneasel from his shoulder and looking at it straight on. It stared back, not understanding, so Silver whispered the plan. It shook its head right away, but then paused, as if thinking. Then it nodded and tilted its head, as if saying _It's worth a shot._

Then it began to squirm in his grip, so he put it down.

"Stand down," Silver said in a tone that said not to disobey him.

"Why should we listen to a brat like you?" Ariana retorted immediately. Ah, so they _were_ paying attention to him. Good.

"Giovanni was my father. By rights, I'm the heir to Team Rocket. Now _stand down_," Silver repeated forcefully.

The four looked at him for a very long moment. "Yeah, right, and I'm the Champion of Indigo Plateau," Proton said at last in a mocking tone. Petrel didn't even react, and Ariana obviously didn't believe him as she was nodding along with Proton's statement.

Surprisingly, it was Archer who took an interest. "Do you have any proof?" he asked in an almost gentle voice.

"What would be proof to you?" Silver asked him. This was the part where things either went completely and utterly wrong or, hopefully, right.

"Where did you live with Giovanni, I suppose," Archer replied. "If you know that, that would be proof enough for me. Only a few people know where he actually settled down for a little bit when his son came along."

_Arceus, please tell me my memories are right_. "I lived in Viridian City in a small house by the Gym, which my father used to run," Silver said, remembering back. "My mother disappeared shortly after my fourth birthday, after we moved to Goldenrod."

"It matches up," Archer told his cronies. "Giovanni said that time he last saw his son when he was four years old."

"How can you just believe him like that?" Ariana asked, disgusted. "He could've researched the facts online."

"Giovanni only told us," Archer pointed. "He wasn't fond of technologies like computers. He kept things either in his head or on paper."

"That's true," Proton said. "I once tried to search him on a computer. There was nothing except a few news articles about him disappearing."

They all turned to look at him.

"Will you stand down _now_?" Silver asked. His Sneasel leaned against his leg. The warmth from the small creature gave him confidence.

After a moment Archer smiled – but it was not a friendly one. "Of course not," he said coolly. "We are doing what Giovanni desires. Why should we stop now, on the whim of his supposed son?"

_Underestimating me again_, Silver thought with an inward sigh. If they all ganged up on him he was sure he would be fine, but he had to worry about the rest of the grunts; what if they attacked him while he was battling?

Still, what had to be done had to be done. "I'll stop you, then," Silver said with a shrug, casting a furtive eye around. No grunts nearby, just these four. _Excellent._

Ariana rolled her eyes. "Oh, we're so scared. Once we have the Mewtwo you won't stand a chance."

Silver reached into his bag and took out the Master Ball. "You can't do that without this," he remarked, holding it forward for them to see. Petrel gawked and then tried to snatch it back, but Silver was faster. He tucked it back into its place while he added, "All you need to do is beat me. How hard could it be?"

They all glared at him as he continued lazily, running a hand through his hair, "One-on-one. If any of you beat me it's all yours."

"Why don't we just steal it from you now?" Proton asked, flipping his hair.

Silver waited. No one moved. Finally Proton sighed. "It would get my clothes dirty," he admitted, and Silver nodded, satisfied.

Sneasel got ready to fight, but none of the Executives moved. "Aren't you the boy who travels with the Champion?" Petrel asked him.

Again, Silver struggled with himself about the lack of title, but he let it go after a moment. "Yes," he replied.

Petrel shook his head and looked at his companions. "We don't stand a chance. Rumors are he comes close to beating her, you know."

"I still can't get over how strong she is," Ariana muttered, propping a hand on her hip. "She could be an Executive, easily."

"You're saying we can't beat him?" Archer asked Petrel, eyebrow raised. "Then how do we get the Master Ball back?"

Arceus, no wonder Team Rocket never got anywhere. These people were idiots.

Silver tuned out the following discussion and regarded his surroundings. Lyra, Leaf and Gary were handling just fine; in fact, they had wiped out almost all the grunts and had ganged up on one of them. Red was standing next to Mewtwo, using his Pikachu to knock out all the grunts attacking it. It was an amazing sight, Silver reflected, watching his senior. It was almost like he was talking to the clone – non-verbally, of course – and commanding his Pikachu at the same time using hand motions alone.

He was brought back to his location with a yelp when his Sneasel drove one of its claws into his hand. He cursed the Pokemon under his breath and then saw that the Executives were trying to sneak off.

"Abandoning their companions?" he muttered, walking after them. They broke into a run, and he gave chase. "That's low."

Of course, they ran right into Lyra, Leaf and Gary, who were watching them approach, and consequently stopped in their tracks. "These people are idiots," Lyra commented, watching Gary remove an Escape Rope from his pouch and tying the four up. Leaf didn't want to hear them complain, so she ripped a few strips of cloth from their clothes and gagged them.

"Damn straight," Gary agreed crudely, earning him a smack from Leaf.

"Well, now what?" Silver asked, watching Red out of the corner of his eye. It was obvious he didn't need help, seeing as all the grunts were backing away in fear. The Mewtwo seemed to be radiating power, and Red was obviously unaffected.

"We wait for Red, I guess," Leaf said, finishing a knot with flourish. Gary rolled his eyes, which Leaf didn't miss. She muttered in his general direction, "Scumbag."

Silver was surprised by the choice of insult, and obviously Gary was as well, as he exclaimed, "_Scumbag_? Seriously, Leaf?"

"It fits, you know."

"Well, whatever, but _scumbag_?"

Silver proceeded to ignore them again by turning to Lyra. "You want me to braid your hair again?"

Lyra frowned and flipped it over her shoulder. The two examined it. It was relatively unharmed until the end, where it ended in a big knot of hair. "Sure," she said, leaving it for him to untangle. He did, skillfully pulling on the hairs in such a way that it didn't cause pain. As he undid the braid, she said, "You didn't even fight them."

The tone in her voice said she had guessed what he'd said, but all he said was, "French, Dutch or fishtail?"

"What?"

"Or just normal. That works too."

"Wait, what?"

"Those are styles of braids," Leaf explained, breaking off from her argument to help her junior. "I'm surprised you don't know them."

Lyra shrugged. "Fishtail, then." Silver set to work.

By the time he was done Red was walking back to them, the Mewtwo stepping lightly besides him. He didn't say anything, of course; he just looked at Silver and nodded, indicating that Silver should speak for him.

"If I'm not mistaken…" Silver paused, watching his senior's movements, and then said, "Red says that the Mewtwo is thanking us for our help, because it – he? – would've been overwhelmed by the sheer number of people."

"_How_ do you do that?" Leaf asked him. Silver turned his head to look at her while she added, "I mean, I've never met anyone who understands Red."

"Takes one to know one," Lyra said with a snarky smile. Leaf ignored her.

In the end, the Mewtwo was more than happy enough to Teleport all of the humans that had invaded its domain back outdoors. Leaf wasted no time calling the police, while Gary checked his PokeGear and – "_Damn_" – saw he had a challenger waiting. Red didn't even bother saying goodbye to those two, instead giving his juniors a light touch on the shoulder before mounting his Fearow and taking off.

"Now what?" Lyra asked Silver, partly to take his eyes off of the Rocket grunts and Executives and partly because she wanted to know.

He looked at her for a long moment, before smiling very slowly. "There's a few hours until the seventh day ends," he pointed out.

"What? Really?" She checked the time and her eyes widened. "We must've spent hours at Mount Silver and in here. That's… weird."

Silver shrugged, ignoring his seniors as they began to argue yet _again_, this time about how had to stay and watch Team Rocket until the police arrived.

"Let's go to New Bark," Lyra decided. "I need to check on Mom. And Ethan, and the professor."

* * *

><p><em>A few hours later... (i.e. time lapse, 'cause they're dang useful)<em>

"Yeah, well, obviously they didn't think I'm dangerous," Ethan complained, pouting.

"We're sorry, Ethan," Lyra said, half-sarcastically.

Silver raised an eyebrow. "'We'?"

Lyra shot him a glare. "Yes, 'we'." Silence. "Well, at least you _should_ be."

"I'm not sorry for anything involving that idiot."

"What – Silver, that's unnecessarily harsh. Seriously," Ethan said, crossing his arms. "I'm your friend, and this is the treatment I get?"

That got a grin from Silver, and he said sheepishly, "Right, right, sorry." Lyra shook her head, smiling.

"Oh, hey, Lyra, where's your hat?" Ethan asked, suddenly noticing the absence of the huge puffball on her head.

"Somewhere in the foothills of Mount Silver," she replied with a shrug. Then she asked accusingly, "What, don't you like the braid?"

"I do! I do! It's just, ah, I didn't know you _could_ braid, let alone know how to do a fishtail as good as that."

Silver turned his face away as Lyra said brightly, sensing a situation where she could embarrass him, "Silver did it, actually."

There was a moment of silence. Then Ethan burst out laughing, so loudly it was audible throughout the small town. "At this point," he gasped after a bit, "I shouldn't be surprised."

"Oh, shut up," Silver muttered, scuffing the dirt with his foot.

"Never!"

Ethan continued to laugh for a good while, though he was quick to change the subject once he had sufficiently recovered. "So what did you do, after you caught the baddies? You called and told me you'd done it like, three hours ago."

When he didn't get an immediate response he grinned viciously. "Did you go to lovey-dovey stuff? Ew."

"Actually, we watched Gary wipe out some half-ass trainer in his Gym," Silver corrected hastily.

"How long did it take?"

"Surprisingly enough, the trainer's Pokemon survived for a pretty long time," Lyra admitted. "The battle was almost as long as mine."

"How long was yours?"

"Two hours, seventeen minutes and thirty-one seconds," she said rapidly.

"And _how_ do you know that?"

Lyra smiled sweetly. "Gary keeps a timer in his Gym. He likes to see how fast he can defeat people. Apparently, his record is four minutes, eleven seconds."

Weird people have weird habits, Silver thought as Ethan frowned and shook his head. "Okay, but that's only two-and-a-half hours. What did you do for the last thirty?"

"Game corner in Celadon," Lyra said.

Ethan furrowed his eyebrow. "Silver, you brought her on a date... and you went to a _game corner?_"

"It was her idea, actually," Silver said mildly.

Ethan barked a laugh. "Well, I would've done the same." Then he paused. "Let me guess. Silver showed you the ropes?"

Lyra nodded. "I had no idea he was so good at cheating, especially with slot machines." She gave said boy a sidelong look. "I didn't even know you could cheat on the slots."

"I rigged a few, for personal purposes," Silver admitted. "They have Out of Order signs on them so no one uses them, but I know better."

Ethan raised his eyebrows. "Personal purposes?"

"Bribing, mostly," Silver replied. "People can always use Coins. They have _fabulous_ prizes, after all," he added in an overly bright tone.

Laughter, and then Lyra asked Ethan, "Did you know Team Rocket put advertisements in the paper?"

"What, no way! Seriously?"

The conversation kept going, animated, even Silver talking his fair share, until the professor came up behind them.

"Hello, kids," he greeted, though his heavy tone indicated he wasn't as energetic as he normally was.

"Professor!" Ethan grinned at Elm, but it slowly faded at the grimace Elm gave him. His eyes narrowed. "Oh no. What happened now?"

"Master Ball," Elm said wearily. "It's missing."

For a moment, all that was heard was the never-ending wind blowing past their ears. Then Lyra sputtered, "_Are you serious?_"

"He literally just gave it to you fifteen minutes ago!" Ethan cried, pointing to Silver.

Elm nodded, looking far more tired than what was possible of the man.

And the four stood in silence, contemplating this new information.

"Well, then," Silver said lightly, in a rare attempt to break the somber mood, "Should we go find it?"

* * *

><p><strong>And thus this is sequel-ready! Though it's doubtful I'll get around to writing one for a while. If I ever do, that is. Still. Keep an eye out.<strong>

**Thanks so much for supporting me by reading and reviewing! I'll never forget the awesome time I had with this! Also: bonus chapter, possibly! If people want it!**


	8. EXTRA

**Bonus chapter, 'cause you know you want it :)**

**This isn't an epilogue… just saying… **it's some random thing that one of my lovely friends wanted me to write. So I did.****

* * *

><p>"Okay, where were you two?" Ethan demanded. "I've been trying to contact you for <em>five days<em>, and I didn't get a response! Not one!"

It took a moment for Silver to response. When he did, he shrugged. "We went to Sinnoh."

Silence. Then Ethan sputtered, "_Sinnoh_? You went all the way to _Sinnoh_?" He paused. "How did you even _get_ there?"

"We flew," Lyra said. Ethan stared as she added, "We took a lot of breaks, of course, to keep the birds energized. But we did Fly all the way there."

"In _two days?_"

"Yeah," Lyra confirmed with a nod. "Turns out Silver knows how to get the most out of Pokemon while not exhausting them. He taught me a few tricks, too."

After a long silence Ethan cleared his throat and said, "Okay. So you went to Sinnoh. For five days. All right. I can live with that. Yup. Five days. Sinnoh." Then he cried, "Who would go to Sinnoh for five days, without telling anyone? Why didn't you tell _me?_"

Silver and Lyra gave him nearly identical looks.

"Yeah, okay, so people don't tell me things because I might tell the paparazzi," Ethan grumbled. Then he asked, "How _did_ you avoid the paparazzi?"

"We flew to Sinnoh on our birds," Silver said tartly. "Do you think they would follow us? They aren't _that_ desperate."

"They could be," Ethan retorted.

Another silence, though Ethan being Ethan, he was quick to break it. "Okay. Sinnoh for five days, avoided paparazzi, and you flew there. Okay. Sure. So what did you _do_ there, then?"

"Like we said, it took two days to get there," Lyra explained, "So that left us only a day to wander. So first, we went around to a few of the Gyms."

Ethan was expecting more romantic things than that, but he wasn't exactly surprised by the choice of location, either. His friends were battle freaks, unlike the amazing him. "Okay. A few Gyms. Say, three or four. Then what?"

"The Game Corner, naturally," Silver said with a malicious smirk. "Rigged a few machines again."

"You guys are the weirdest couple I have ever known," Ethan declared after processing this. "Ever. Ever, ever, ever. Okay, after the Gyms, after the Game Corner, you must've done _something_ romantic. Right?"

"Yeah, we went out for dinner," Silver said with a nod.

Ethan clapped his hands together gleefully. "_That's_ what I'm talking about! Where?"

"Oh, it was awesome!" Lyra gushed. "You sat down to eat all this delicious food, and you got to battle people at the same time! And they were pretty strong, too!"

"So you went to Gyms, then the Game Corner, then some restaurant with good food and good battles…" Ethan visibly deflated in front of them. He had hoped dinner, at least, would've been romantic and mushy, so he could've teased them. But instead, they had been battling other trainers. "By then it must've been late…"

"Yes," Lyra agreed. "I dragged him to the beach to swim and to watch the sunset. It was beautiful."

Yes, finally, _something_ he could tease them about! "Did anything… happen?" he asked slyly.

"We battled some swimmers," Silver said with a shrug. "Pretty weak, but it's an interesting concept, swimming while battling instead of Surfing. My Sneasel had to freeze a portion of the water to stand on."

"I remember that," Lyra said with a chuckle. "He kept on slipping off, too, poor thing."

Ethan groaned and slapped his forehead, seeing his friends were about to go on with some sort of battling rant. "You guys are so _boring!_" he exploded at them. "What am I supposed to tease you about if you don't do _anything_ romantic?"

They both stared at him.

"Okay, yes, stupid question," Ethan grumbled. "But… but… what else am I supposed to do? It's just awkward for me to stand here, sometimes, talking to you two, because you're – " He paused and noted a detail he hadn't noticed earlier. " – holding hands," he finished. He sighed. "Well, it's something."

"Gee, thanks," Silver said dryly.

Ethan turned away and flapped a hand at them. "Go take a walk or something. I can't stand this!"

"Dramatic as usual," Silver remarked without missing a beat, though the other two complied and turned away.

Ethan listened until their footsteps had faded; then he began to trace their tracks, stealthily following them. He grinned. By the end of today, he'd have something, that was for sure. And once he did… they'd never hear the end of it.

He cackled madly and loped after them. He was going to make today a good day, even if it killed him.

* * *

><p><em>The next morning... (time lapse, score!)<em>

"What happened to _you_?" Professor Elm asked, one eyebrow raised.

Ethan gave the professor a lopsided grin, nursing a spectacular black eye on the left side of his face. "I got Silver mad at me," he admitted.

Elm gave a short laugh. "Smooth as always, Ethan." While he turned he added, "Don't think this will lessen your work load."

"Aw, Professor, that's mean! I'm _injured_. Just look at this!"

"It's completely your fault," Elm pointed out with a grim smile. "Silver never does things without a reason."

Ethan wasn't so sure about that. "Even when stealing Pokemon from right under your nose?"

Elm shot Ethan a glare that could've peeled paint. "Yes. Even when stealing Pokemon from right under my nose."

They stared at each other for a while. Ethan broke it off first, carefully rubbing his bruised eye. "Just checking." Then he asked, "By the way, have you seen the paper?"

Elm froze. Then he turned slowly to the boy. "Did you tell them _more_ things about Silver and Lyra?" he asked in a dangerously soft tone, keeping his voice carefully steady.

Ethan grinned cheerfully, unperturbed. "Maybe."

"Arceus, Ethan, do you ever learn?" Elm asked, exasperated, rubbing a knuckle against his temple.

The boy's grin widened, if that were possible. "Apparently not."

Elm shook his head and sighed. It was too late for him to do anything except warn the two. "Well… all right. Get to work."

"Sure thing, Professor!"


End file.
